Tom Clarkson shares his ‘one regret’ for Daniel Ricciardo after Formula 1 axe

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Daniel Ricciardo has potentially contested his final Formula 1 race after being axed by Red Bull after the Singapore Grand Prix.

There was no sign of Ricciardo’s results improving in the last few races, leading Red Bull senior management to make a tricky decision. Damon Hill felt the team handled it poorly, while fans also criticised the team for leaving everyone in the dark until the last minute.

The Australian is set to be replaced by Liam Lawson for the final six rounds of the season, as Red Bull considers its options for seats at RB and the senior team moving forward.

Lawson impressed after making a five-race debut last season in place of Ricciardo, who injured himself during practice for the Dutch GP and has since had a contract with Red Bull that enabled them to take up an option on his services at the end of September.

With Ricciardo out of the picture, journalist Tom Clarkson said he has one regret for the Australian when speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

Tom Clarkson regrets not seeing Daniel Ricciardo in 2024 Red Bull

Ricciardo entered the Red Bull frame after posting good times in a test at Silverstone last year for the team, as they assessed whether the underperforming Nyck de Vries should be replaced.

Clarkson believes it is a shame that Ricciardo never realised his end goal of making it back to Red Bull, having left them to pursue other teams in 2018.

“My one regret in all this is that we didn’t get to see him in the Red Bull. I would’ve loved to have seen what he would’ve done in that team,” said Clarkson.

“We know that he tested so well last year at Silverstone in that car, but we still don’t know how he would’ve stacked up against Max in that car.”

Guenther Steiner tells RB the ‘wrong’ decision they made with Daniel Ricciardo

Lawson will have a lot of attention when he eventually jumps into the RB for the first time in Austin, as he tries to improve where Ricciardo failed to score points.

Former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner believes the team should have put Lawson in midway through the 2023 season to assess whether he was the right driver moving forward.

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Steiner has compared Lawson to Oscar Piastri and believes he should try to emulate his success at McLaren if he wants the seat at Red Bull.

Red Bull is unlikely to promote Yuki Tsunoda, meaning Lawson has a shot at taking Sergio Perez’s seat next year if he impresses in the final half of the season.