‘Whimpered out’… David Coulthard’s ruthless verdict on Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career

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David Coulthard has given his verdict on Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career after the Australian was axed in favour of Liam Lawson following the Singapore Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo’s future came under scrutiny following a difficult season he was having against Yuki Tsunoda, who seemingly outclassed him at most races at Visa CashApp RB.

The Australian had ambitions to rejoin the senior Red Bull team after being let go by McLaren at the end of 2022, but failed to put together a string of results that impressed both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

His exit came as a shock to fans given there are still six races left on the calendar, although Anthony Davidson believes it came as no surprise given he was underperforming in the seat.

Discussing his career on the Formula for Success podcast, Coulthard gave his honest verdict on Ricciardo’s career and how he felt it ‘whimpered out’ towards the end.

David Coulthard gives ‘honest’ verdict on Daniel Ricciardo’s career

Ricciardo was once the poster boy for Red Bull at the height of his success at the team in 2014, when he beat defending champion Sebastian Vettel before his move to Ferrari.

The Australian had been in F1 since 2011 at that stage, and while his results at Toro Rosso (now RB) were underwhelming, he started to peak as a driver between the 2014 and 2018 seasons.

A shock move to Renault at the end of 2018 effectively started his downward spiral, with only a handful of podiums and one race win with McLaren in 2021 before he exited at the end of 2022. Coulthard believes the last few years of his career were the most difficult.

“He’s [Ricciardo] leaving the sport with eight Grand Prix victories. But it kind of whimpered out,” said Coulthard.

“Let’s be honest about it. It’s always difficult, isn’t it, when you’re talking about people you know. But if we put to one side personal feelings and just look at the data, it just didn’t really seem to work for him the last few years.”

Damon Hill brands Daniel Ricciardo exit ‘damp squib’

The handling of Ricciardo’s exit drew a lot of criticism from fans, given he was effectively informed after the race in Singapore.

There was little effort from the team to communicate that it would be his last race despite knowing after Azerbaijan that it could be his last, while the team told media they expected him in the car in Austin after rumours emerged it would be his last.

READ MORE: The five worst moments of Daniel Ricciardo’s career in Formula 1

Damon Hill felt he went out on a ‘damp squib’ and that it could have been handled better, given Ricciardo was one of the biggest personalities in F1.

Ricciardo was on the cusp of an early exit in the season after a ‘disastrous’ Miami GP weekend, which prompted Marko to request he was replaced as early as the Spanish GP in June.