One of Australia’s great F1 careers has been meet with an unfortunate end with Racing Bulls finally confirming Daniel Ricciardo will be replaced by Liam Lawson.
Singapore will be Ricciardo’s 257th and final Grand Prix with Kiwi Lawson jumping into the Racing Bulls car with immediate effect at the upcoming United States Grand Prix in October.
Whilst the writing was on the wall at Singapore after Ricciardo’s emotional exit from the paddock, there was nothing official, creating an awkward situation where the Australian had to somehow soak up the F1 world one final time without being able to tell the world and properly say goodbye.
But four days after on Thursday afternoon it is finally offical with Red Bull’s social media channels paying tribute to the “Honey Badger.”
It brings an end to a disrupted final chapter of Ricciardo’s career at Racing Bulls, which gave him a second chance after a tough time at McLaren.
The Australian started 2023 on the sidelines, but was thrown in to the junior team replacing Nyck de Vries at Hungary, but a wrist injury just three races later at Zandvoort saw him lose a chunk of races.
Heading into 2024 Ricciardo had a big chance to rediscover his magic and possibly stake his claim for a magic return to Red Bull replacing Sergio Perez.
However, sadly the smiling Australian struggled to find his best consistently with the superb fourth place in the Miami Sprint the outlier.
Although Ricciardo is close to matching teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the head to head 8-9, the younger Japanese driver has 14 more points.
But critically Ricciardo has outscored Tsunoda seven points to three in the last 10 races.
But with Lawson impressing at short notice as Ricciardo’s sub last year, being 13 years younger and waiting as the reserve driver for 33 months, RB is looking to the future.
But in doing do they have denied Australia’s most experienced F1 driver ever and arguably most popular a much deserved send off.
“Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the two seasons with us,” RB boss Laurent Mekies said.
“Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile.
“He will be missed but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.”
Ricciardo also posted on Instagram some words of appreciation to those who had had a role in his F1 career.
“I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey,” he said. “To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you.
“To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha thank you. It’ll always have its highs and lows but it’s been fun and truth be told I wouldn’t change it. Until the next adventure.”
Whilst it is an end of a very happy and smily era filled with memories, it will be the start of a new chapter for New Zealand’s big hope Lawson.
The youngster impressed on short notice during his five-race stint at Racing Bulls last year, led by a P9 at Singapore where he out qualified Max Verstappen.
Lawson is determined to make an even bigger impact in the remaining six races in 2024.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam,” Mekies said.
“He already knows the team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition.
“It’s great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step.
“We’re looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together.”
Ricciardo leaves F1 with an Australian record 259 starts, eight stunning wins at Canada, Hungary, Belgium, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, China, Monaco and Italy 32 podiums, three poles, countless shoeys and endless memories.
