formula 1
Racing Bulls part ways with Ricciardo – Succession clear
Daniel Ricciardo has to leave in the middle of the Formula 1 season. Photo
© Denes Erdos/AP/dpa
There is no longer any room for Ricciardo at the Racing Bulls. He has to leave six Grand Prix before the Formula 1 season finale. A 22-year-old will take over the cockpit for the remaining races.
Six Grand Prix before the end of the season, Formula 1 team Racing Bulls is parting ways with Daniel Ricciardo (35). “He brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with a fantastic attitude that helped everyone to develop and foster a close team spirit,” said team boss Laurent Mekies in a statement entitled “Thank you Daniel.” Ricciardo was a “true gentleman both on and off the track.”
The Australian will be replaced by New Zealander Liam Lawson for the remaining races of the season. The 22-year-old from the Red Bull junior team will sit in the second cockpit alongside Yuki Tsunoda from Japan from the Grand Prix in Austin on October 20th.
Ricciardo faces complete retirement from Formula 1
Ricciardo, former Red Bull teammate of Sebastian Vettel, had fallen short of expectations at Racing Bulls. After the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, the man from Perth gave a kind of farewell speech. “I did my best, but the fairytale happy ending didn’t happen,” Ricciardo explained in the paddock at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, sounding like someone who even had his Formula 1 retirement in mind. “But I also have to look back on what I have achieved in thirteen years and I am proud of it.”
The “Honey Badger”, as Ricciardo is nicknamed, made his Formula 1 debut at HRT in 2011. In 2014, he drove alongside four-time world champion Vettel at Red Bull. After leaving McLaren at the end of 2022, he replaced Dutchman Nyck De Vries at the sister team, which was then still called Alpha Tauri, in the summer of 2023 and hoped to be promoted back to Red Bull, where he had already been promoted as a junior driver.
Final point in Singapore
A broken hand temporarily slowed down the eight-time Grand Prix winner Ricciardo, so Lawson stood in for him in five races and promoted his own cause. The young driver surprisingly finished ninth in Singapore and scored two World Championship points.
In Singapore, Ricciardo contested his 257th career race and once again put himself at the service of the Red Bull team, stealing the fastest lap from McLaren driver Lando Norris. This meant that the Englishman was unable to score any more points in his pursuit of Max Verstappen in the World Championship. Only KTM Sauber has a free cockpit for 2025, and this will probably go to Valtteri Bottas.