Daniel Ricciardo's career in Formula 1 may be over.
On Thursday, Red Bull's second team—Visa Cash App RB—announced New Zealand's Liam Lawson would replace Ricciardo for the final six races of the 2024 season. Lawson will team with Japan's Yuki Tsunoda.
A statement from team principal Laurent Mekies said the following:
"Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us... 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."
Thank you Daniel 💙
— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) September 26, 2024
⁰Laurent Mekies on Daniel: “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.”#F1 #VCARB pic.twitter.com/cqKrbFAehU
Ricciardo's departure was a blow for fans, as the 35-year-old Australian is one of the most popular drivers on the circuit. His popularity skyrocketed thanks to Nexflix's Formula 1: Drive to Survive in which he featured prominently He joined F1 in 2011 and moved to Red Bull's secondary team—then named Scuderia Toro Rosso—in 2012. He was promoted to Red Bull's top team in 2014.
Over a long career that covered parts of 14 seasons, Ricciardo has made 257 starts and registered eight wins and 32 podiums. While he never won a championship, he did finish third in 2014 and 2015, and finished in the top five two other times.
He acknowledged his career could be over in a post on Instagram. It read as follows:
I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey.
To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you. To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha thank you. It’ll always have its highs and lows but it’s been fun and truth be told I wouldn’t change it.
Until the next adventure.
In 18 races this season, Ricciardo has scored 13 points and sits in 13th place—one spot behind Tsunoda who has 22. Ricciardo has gone four races without scoring a point, while Tsunoda's pointless streak is at five races. VCARB is currently four points ahead of Haas in the constructors standings.
After replacing Nyck de Vries of the Netherlands on Red Bull's junior team midway through the 2023 season, Ricciardo's goal was to eventually be promoted to Red Bull's top team alongside former teammate Max Verstappen. That was not in the cards.
Lawson is viewed by many as a future star. The Red Bull junior driver replaced Ricciardo for five races in 2023 after the veteran suffered an injury. He earned two points and impressed enough to put himself on the radar.
If this truly is the end for Ricciardo, it will be a sad finish. His personality and charm helped take the sport to a wider audience. He will be missed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 Career Could Be Over After Stunning Move By Red Bull.
