This was by no means how Daniel Ricciardo’s Formulation One profession was supposed to finish.
For a driver who as soon as seemed like a possible world champion and rapidly gained over followers by means of his affable nature and infectious persona, he deserved a correct send-off after 13 years on the grid.
As a substitute, he was left in limbo. To deal with final Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix as, unofficially, his final grand prix, with none closure or a call over whether or not he’d be again in Austin subsequent month.
That didn’t arrive till Thursday, 4 days after Ricciardo had mentioned what he anticipated can be his last farewells to the F1 paddock, when Pink Bull confirmed his departure.
It put an finish to what had was Schrödinger’s driver determination: Ricciardo was each leaving and but to depart. Ricciardo’s emotion on Sunday made clear what was going to occur. But he’d been robbed of the prospect to correctly say goodbye to F1. It was all accomplished with an asterisk.
By means of his media periods on Thursday in Singapore, Ricciardo acknowledged the hypothesis that he might be changed by Liam Lawson, Pink Bull’s reserve driver, as early as the following race. However he appeared extra frightened about 2025 than the rest of the season. He didn’t seem to noticeably assume that it was his final F1 race.
By Saturday, as Ricciardo digested his Q1 exit that left him sixteenth on the grid, whereas RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda made it by means of to Q3, his tone and physique language urged there’d been a shift. What turned a risk had now turn into assumed as truth.
He made a concerted effort to absorb each single second of Sunday, realizing this might be the ultimate time he raced in F1. That even prolonged to taking a bit additional time to sit down in his automotive earlier than getting out after the checkered flag. It had been his dwelling for over a decade.
“The cockpit is one thing that … I bought very used to for a few years,” Ricciardo mentioned in an emotional interview with F1 TV after the race, combating again tears. “I simply wished to savor the second.”
Danny Ric ❤️
An emotional Daniel Ricciardo speaks after the #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/53hD09HZ4z
— Formulation 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
Ricciardo will not be the grand-prix driver he as soon as was at Pink Bull. The one who burst onto the scene and instantly put Sebastian Vettel, then the reigning four-time world champion, within the shade in 2014. Or who produced magic across the streets of Monaco in 2018, redemption for his heartbreaking loss two years earlier. Or who put up a real problem to Max Verstappen, now acknowledged as an F1 nice, of their time as teammates.
However he deserved so a lot better than this protracted, awkward exit that ended up dragging out right into a state of affairs the place there have been zero winners.
Whilst Ricciardo spoke like a person who’d raced for the ultimate time in F1 on Sunday, the official line from Pink Bull and RB was that no determination had been taken. The one acknowledgement of the potential change in driver lineup got here in RB’s post-race press launch when, in explaining the choice to pit Ricciardo for the quick lap late on, staff principal Laurent Mekies famous it “could have been Daniel’s final race.” Pink Bull F1 chief Christian Horner mentioned on Sunday that the break earlier than Austin was an opportunity to overview the driving force performances throughout Pink Bull’s two groups, and that Ricciardo was “only one a part of the jigsaw.”
The rationale that overview needed to happen now’s Lawson, and the necessity to make a name on his future or danger dropping him on account of clauses in his contract. If Pink Bull had did not get him on the F1 grid, then he’d be free to depart its driver setup. Given how nicely he carried out throughout his five-race stint whereas Ricciardo was out injured final 12 months, Pink Bull didn’t wish to lose a expertise that might play a giant half in its F1 future.
However for Ricciardo, the timing meant that, if Pink Bull wished to drag the set off and make a change with six races left within the season, there was all the time this danger he’d be robbed of a correct F1 farewell until a call have been made previous to Singapore.
Daniel Ricciardo sports activities a cowboy hat forward of the 2018 U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. His affable persona gained over many followers. (Mark Thompson / Getty Pictures)
And of all races to not be at, the USA Grand Prix in Austin, the place Ricciardo leans totally into the spirit of the race — he’s sported Texas Longhorns jerseys, cowboy hats, and even entered the paddock on horseback one 12 months — feels just like the worst one to make a change earlier than. His business attraction, particularly in the USA, stays plain.
The efficiency causes behind the choice are comprehensible. Ricciardo has just one level within the final seven races, and Lawson confirmed what he can do throughout his five-race cameo final 12 months. With Haas closing in on RB within the constructors’ championship standings, typically robust calls should be taken for the sake of the broader staff.
It’s the ready that turned this case right into a lose-lose for Pink Bull. Had it been introduced that Singapore can be Ricciardo’s final race, he’d have obtained the prospect to completely embrace the grand prix weekend and get a correct send-off. There wouldn’t have been the unusual uncertainty, the doubt-laden solutions. Nothing in a position to be mentioned with any assurance or confidence.
That each one left the F1 group to say a delicate goodbye. Social media has been rife with movies of Ricciardo’s emotional chats in Singapore, edits set to “Pink Skies,” his favourite track by Zach Bryan, and clips of his well-known “benefit from the butterflies” interview. All of it was on the idea of a call that didn’t get confirmed till days later.
No, we’re not dropping one among F1’s all-time greats, and even among the finest drivers on the grid proper now. It’s however an abrupt, unhappy farewell to somebody who has performed a giant position in defining F1 by means of the 2010s and performed a major half in Pink Bull’s F1 historical past.
F1 could be ruthless. That’s no secret. However for somebody who has put a lot of his coronary heart and persona into being extra than simply one other F1 driver, Ricciardo deserved higher.
Daniel Ricciardo celebrates in model after successful the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, two years after a foul pit cease price him the victory there. (Dan Istitene / Getty Pictures)
(Prime photograph of Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Pictures)
