Paddock insider shares when ‘a lot of’ people now expect Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 exit to be confirmed

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RB star Daniel Ricciardo took his time to get out of his V-CARB 01 at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix, seemingly taking in his surroundings at the end of a gruelling race.

Daniel Ricciardo appears set to end his time in Formula 1 with an 18^th-place finish on the streets of the Marina Bay Street Circuit but with one more fastest lap to his name.

That lap may end up being crucial in the Drivers’ Championship as the title is no longer in Lando Norris’s hands.

Even if he wins every race and secures every fastest lap, he can still finish a point behind Max Verstappen should the Dutchman finish directly behind them at every Grand Prix.

However, it may be scant consolation for Ricciardo as he looks very unlikely to be racing for RB in Austin at the next Grand Prix.

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Reserve driver Liam Lawson is expected to replace Ricciardo for the final six races of the season before potentially being handed a full-time race seat in 2025.

Paddock insider and photographer Kym Illman was speaking on his Instagram about Ricciardo and what appears to be his inevitable exit from the sport.

Illman admitted that Ricciardo was the last driver to leave the Singapore paddock and was saying plenty of goodbyes including to one rival that he’s particularly close to.

RB staff and guests welcomed Ricciardo back with a guard of honour which doesn’t typically happen for a driver who finishes so far down the order, suggesting that the 35-year-old’s time is almost certainly up.

When ‘a lot of’ people in F1 expect Daniel Ricciardo’s RB exit to be confirmed

Talking about Ricciardo’s future, Illman said: “It’s going to be a sad day when the official announcement comes.

“And when is that announcement? A lot of us think that it will be early this week, my money is on Tuesday.

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“Definitely, we will be saying goodbye to Daniel, he’s saying goodbye to everybody here and it is a very, very busy paddock and it was remarkable that he was Driver of the Day given that he was the last of the drivers that finished the race.

“Quite a magnificent show of emotion for a great Australian. Will he be back in racing? Well we don’t know.”

Christian Horner ‘not quite sure’ on Liam Lawson ahead of return to Formula 1

Lawson isn’t technically a rookie given he took part in five races last season as a substitute for Ricciardo after he was injured at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix.

However, he’s still very inexperienced especially compared to Ricciardo although he’s still got more experience than Williams’s young star Franco Colapinto.

The Kiwi has a few weeks to prepare for his potential return to the grid in Austin, but next year, he’ll have three drivers that his progress can be much more closely matched.

Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman and Jack Doohan all make their debuts in 2025, but Christian Horner has admitted that he doesn’t know if Lawson is on their level yet.

Only time will tell and while Lawson will have to really underperform this year for RB to consider the swap a complete disaster, Red Bull aren’t short of options to continue promoting youngsters into the seat if they would like to.

Better yet, Horner may even continue courting George Russell as he fights fire with fire, considering Toto Wolff’s pursuit of Max Verstappen.