Daniel Ricciardo deserved a real F1 farewell, not his awkward departure from Singapore

This was never how Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career should have ended.

For a driver who once looked like a potential world champion and quickly won over fans with his affable nature and infectious personality, he deserved a proper send-off after 13 years on the grid.

Instead, he was left in limbo. To treat last Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix as, unofficially, his last Grand Prix, without any closure or a decision on whether he would be back in Austin next month.

That only came on Thursday, four days after Ricciardo said what he expected would be his final farewell to the F1 paddock, when Red Bull confirmed his departure.

It put an end to what had become Schrödinger’s decision as a driver: Ricciardo left and still had to leave. Ricciardo’s emotion made it clear on Sunday what was going to happen. Yet he was denied the opportunity to say goodbye to F1 in a proper way. It all happened with an asterisk.

During his media sessions in Singapore on Thursday, Ricciardo acknowledged speculation that he could be replaced by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson as early as the next race. But he seemed more concerned about 2025 than the rest of the season. He didn’t seem to seriously think it was his last F1 race.

On Saturday, as Ricciardo processed his exit from Q1, leaving him 16th on the grid, while RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3, his tone and body language suggested a shift had taken place. What became a possibility was now accepted as a fact.

He did his utmost to soak up every moment of Sunday, knowing it could be the last time he races in F1. That even extended to taking some extra time to sit in his car before getting out after the checkered flag. It had been his home for more than ten years.

“The cockpit is something that I have become very accustomed to over the years,” Ricciardo said after the race in an emotional interview with F1 TV, fighting back tears. “I just wanted to enjoy the moment.”

Danny Rik ❤️

An emotional Daniel Ricciardo speaks after the match #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/53hD09HZ4z

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024

Ricciardo may no longer be the Grand Prix driver he once was at Red Bull. The one who burst onto the scene and immediately overshadowed Sebastian Vettel, then reigning four-time world champion, in 2014. Or who conjured magic through the streets of Monaco in 2018, redemption for his heartbreaking loss two years earlier. Or who posed a real challenge for Max Verstappen, now recognized as an F1 great, during their time as teammates.

But he deserved so much better than this lengthy, awkward exit that ultimately resulted in a no-win situation.

Even as Ricciardo spoke as a man who had raced in F1 for the last time on Sunday, the official line from Red Bull and RB was that no decision had been made. The only acknowledgment of the possible change in driver line-up came in RB’s post-race press release, when team boss Laurent Mekies, in explaining the decision to pit Ricciardo late for the fast lap, noted that this “may have been Daniel’s last race.” Red Bull F1 chief Christian Horner said on Sunday that the break was an opportunity for Austin to assess the performance of the drivers of the two Red Bull teams, and that Ricciardo was “just part of the puzzle”.

The reason a review had to happen now is Lawson, and the need to call on his future or risk losing him due to clauses in his contract. If Red Bull had failed to get him onto the F1 grid, he could have left the driver line-up. Given how well he performed during his five-race spell while Ricciardo was out injured last year, Red Bull did not want to lose a talent that could play a major role in F1’s future.

But for Ricciardo, the timing meant that if Red Bull wanted to pull the trigger and make a change with six races left in the season, there was always the risk he would be robbed of a real F1 farewell unless there was a decision was made earlier. to Singapore.

Daniel Ricciardo wears a cowboy hat ahead of the 2018 US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. His affable personality won over many fans. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

And of all races not being present, the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where Ricciardo fully embraces the spirit of the race – he wore Texas Longhorns jerseys and cowboy hats and even entered the paddock on horseback for a year – feels like the worst that a change has implemented for. Its commercial appeal, especially in the United States, remains undeniable.

The performance reasons behind the decision are understandable. Ricciardo has just one point in the last seven races and Lawson showed what he can do in his five-race cameo last year. With Haas closing in on RB in the Constructors’ Championship, sometimes tough decisions have to be made in the interests of the wider team.

It’s the waiting that has turned this situation into a lose-lose for Red Bull. Had it been announced that Singapore would be Ricciardo’s last race, he would have been given the opportunity to fully embrace the Grand Prix weekend and get a proper send-off. Then there wouldn’t have been that strange uncertainty, the doubt-laden answers. Nothing can be said with any certainty or confidence.

All that left the F1 community to say a gentle goodbye. Social media is full of videos of Ricciardo’s emotional conversations in Singapore, montages to “Pink Skies,” his favorite Zach Bryan song, and snippets of his famous “enjoy the butterflies” interview. All this was based on the assumption of a decision that was only confirmed days later.

No, we’re not losing one of F1’s all-time greats, or even one of the best drivers on the grid right now. It is nevertheless an abrupt, sad farewell for someone who played a huge role in defining F1 in the 2010s and played an important role in Red Bull’s F1 history.

F1 can be ruthless. That’s no secret. But for someone who put so much of his heart and personality into being more than just an F1 driver, Ricciardo deserved better.

Daniel Ricciardo is celebrating in style after winning the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, two years after a bad pit stop cost him victory there. (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

(Top photo of Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)