You Need to Get Over Daniel Ricciardo

The Singapore Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo’s last race for Visa Cash App RB, likely meaning the end of his Formula 1 career. It comes after a mildly unsuccessful season at the team, and after reserve driver Liam Lawson patiently anticipating his shot as a promising talent for next year. 

Many fans are upset with the abruptness of his departure, with the RB team not allowing him to finish the season. However, the team had made their decision. Visa Cash App RB Team Principal, Laurent Mekies said “Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us. He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit. 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.” 

He continued to welcome Lawson: “I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. 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.” 

Last year, Lawson very successfully stepped in for Ricciardo when he broke his wrist, out-qualifying Max Verstappen and scoring two points in Singapore. Ricciardo’s form has been subpar in the past two years, completing only a partial season in 2023 after taking over from Nyck De Vries. He scored points on only one occasion in seven races, and this year has been similar. His only points have come from four races, one being a sprint in Miami where he placed Fourth. He currently sits 14th in the Championship, 10 points behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda. 

Over their time as teammates, Tsunoda has had nine more points finishes that Ricciardo (excluding Sprint races)

Ricciardo was brought into the RB team as a member with experience, and he was supposed to show that through his racing, scoring points and in a way helping Tsunoda to develop as a driver. Both he and Tsunoda were potential candidates for a Red Bull seat alongside Verstappen, should Sergio Perez be replaced. Of course, their form in the RB seat would dictate how this could occur. 

From a competition perspective, if Ricciardo is near the end of his career and is underperforming, it would be more beneficial for the Red Bull team to bring in a young driver who they know is a promising candidate, who could potentially compete alongside Verstappen in a few years time. When you think about it, it makes sense that Ricciardo was replaced. 

The fact that he was replaced mid-season can also be justified by the purpose of the team. Visa Cash App RB is a team for development drivers, so they can develop the skills and experience they require to eventually land a Red Bull seat. Ricciardo didn’t need any extra experience or development, his career had peaked years ago. Lawson, on the other hand, is a newer driver, who would benefit from an extra six races to get used to the car and therefore prepare for the 2025 season, wherever he may end up. It makes the most logical sense for the RB team to spend time developing a younger driver who will be an asset to them in the coming years, rather than one who was destined to retire soon. 

This understanding was lacking for many people who were upset by the abrupt end of Ricciardo’s career. When it was announced that Lawson would be taking the seat on F1’s social media accounts, the reception was less than welcoming. Any post promoting Lawson for the rest of the season would be plagued with comments from people still shocked and disappointed from Ricciardo’s departure. Here are some real comments from posts containing Lawson in the last 24 hours: 

“happy for him but still grieving” 

“he is a good driver but i miss ricciardo” 

“Call back Riccardo!” (you can’t be that big of a fan if you can’t even spell his name right…)

“Stop shoving him in our faces…” 

“Nobody cares” (variations of this comment were repeated multiple times over the posts) 

“Never he will be like Danny…never” 

“F1 admin still hasn’t read the room. take a break. Literally NO one cares about Liam right now.” 

“Justice for Dani Ric” 

“Let me grieve f1 admin” 

“Team Daniel.” 

To me, these comments show how ridiculously sensitive the social media fan base of F1 is. I’m sorry, but I think it is pretty pathetic if you spend your life GRIEVING over the fact that one driver that doesn’t even know you ends his career. Sure, he was a fantastic driver and had some amazing moments throughout his career, but having a temper tantrum on social media to put another, more promising, driver down is too far.

Lawson did nothing to deserve the hate, especially when he should be celebrating the biggest success of his life. He even stated in an interview with Newstalk ZB that “Daniel has always been so good to me. I’ve never felt in competition with him,”

At the end of the day, Ricciardo is not that hard done by. He has had 13 years in F1, which is a privilege in itself. He also had a net worth of $50 million, owns properties in Monaco, Beverly Hills and Perth, oh and has enough luxury cars to drive around the entire Royal Family. 

This pointless depression around his departure represents a larger problem in F1: Marketability. It could be argued that Ricciardo was only given a seat this year instead of Lawson due to how much he is loved by fans. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner also had a great love for Ricciardo, keeping him in the Red Bull circle. 

But if Ricciardo genuinely isn’t as good as other drivers, there should be no reason for him to stay. 

Perez, Zhou Guanyu, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris and Oliver Bearman have all secured their seats for potentially the wrong reasons, appealing to different markets or having enough money to secure their seats through what I would call bribes. None of the top five F2 drivers this season have secured an F1 seat for next year, while Bearman (15th), and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (6th) hace, while Franco Colapinto (7th) is in a Williams seat for the rest of the season. 

The pinnacle of motorsport no longer seems to be selecting the best drivers in the world, as it so often claims it does.