What Daniel Ricciardo will take the ‘longest to get over’ if he loses RB seat

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It looks all but certain that Daniel Ricciardo will lose his seat in Formula 1 following the Singapore Grand Prix, as Red Bull looks to promote Liam Lawson.

Daniel Ricciardo likely contested his final Grand Prix with RB after his 18th-place finish at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, after the Australian set the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.

His last lap could prove to be crucial in helping Red Bull defend their Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen, as it denied title rival Lando Norris the bonus point for an attempt he made 12 laps earlier.

It is a small consolation for Ricciardo that he helped the team that gave him his debut in 2011 with the Hispania F1 team, having supported him throughout his junior career.

Discussing whether it will be Ricciardo’s last race on the F1 Nation podcast, journalist Lawrence Barretto highlighted one thing he thinks the Australian will find tough to get over.

Daniel Ricciardo never had the right car to shine during comeback

Ricciardo made his F1 comeback last year after spending six months on the sidelines as Red Bull’s reserve.

He was initially dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022 so they could have Oscar Piastri but made his comeback when Nyck de Vries failed to improve his form midway through 2023.

But the comeback has not gone as well as Ricciardo planned, having been outscored by teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Barretto believes Ricciardo will regret never having the right car to show his potential.

“It’s unfortunate this his form has turned around when his car has not been up there. Yuki didn’t score points and you could argue that he’s done the best he could do from where he was starting,” said Barretto.

“I just don’t think he’s had the rub of the green. But that’s probably what is going to take the longest to get over, because I don’t feel like he ever had the right circumstances to do that.”

Who will replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB?

Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson is expected to replace Ricciardo for the final six races, before getting a full-time seat at the team in 2025.

Although Lawson did not set blistering lap times when he tested a Red Bull midway through the year in case they swapped him out with Sergio Perez, the team still want to assess if he is right moving forward.

Lawson has an option in his contract that runs out in September, which enables him to discuss switching to other teams on the grid.

At the risk of him transferring knowledge and potentially missing out on his talent, Red Bull is giving Lawson another chance after he impressed substituting for Ricciardo last season.