Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, encapsulated in a single, unceremonious tweet. It was a sad conclusion for the talented Australian driver, whose potential was overshadowed by the lure of financial gain and the futile hope of growth away from Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
A Champion’s Dream, An Anonymous Exit
He aspired to be a champion, but left in obscurity. He dreamed of being a villain, but ended up a lackey. Daniel Ricciardo’s departure on the evening of the Singapore Grand Prix was not befitting of a driver of his caliber. His restrained sobs in front of the cameras and the overwhelming emotion that prevented him from leaving his cockpit after his 257th and presumably last Grand Prix spoke volumes about the pain he must have felt. The sight of his Red Bull family, abandoning him in such a manner, must have been a bitter pill to swallow.
Red Bull’s Cold Goodbye
It’s hard to ignore the fact that the Austrian team, without a shred of emotion, left him high and dry. They didn’t even bother with a precursor announcement, instead opting to fire him with a single, soulless tweet from Racing Bull. There was no word from the big sister team, even after they had unsportingly asked him to snatch the fastest lap point from Lando Norris at Marina Bay. They discarded him like an old sock, showing no respect for a driver who had contributed to at least seven of their victories.
A Promising Start
Ironically, it was the same team that had given him a lifeline when McLaren prematurely terminated his contract a year earlier than expected, despite him helping the Woking team return to winning ways (Monza 2021). It was the same Dr. Marko, who is now being criticized for his lack of emotion, who had spotted him at Estoril in 2007 and signed him to his team, alongside Jean-Eric Vergne. It was Marko who gave him his debut in the summer of 2011 with the modest Hispania team, where he honed the aggressive driving style that we admired so much when he was battling almost on equal terms with his then Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, who has since become a champion.
The Uncertain Future of Daniel Ricciardo in F1
There’s a strange atmosphere surrounding Daniel Ricciardo’s possible last F1 race in Singapore…
Remembering Daniel Ricciardo’s Legacy
Let’s forget Red Bull for a moment and remember the legendary braking that Daniel Ricciardo repeatedly inflicted on his Dutch friend in 2016 at Sepang, Malaysia, or the pole he stole from the Dutchman in Mexico in 2018, forever depriving him of the record for the youngest poleman in history. Recall how, in his debut with Red Bull after two years of training at Toro Rosso, the Australian had defeated Sebastian Vettel, the four-time reigning champion, in 2014. Not once, but three times. If Ricciardo leaves, it’s the image of the “Honey Badger” that we should remember, a nickname that the Perth native adopted as a talisman, a totem that protected him from the image of a smiling fool that some quickly wanted to stick to “Dan the Banana”.
A Stint at Renault That Took Him Away from the Top
Daniel Ricciardo was the maestro of ultra-late braking, a “dive bomb” that Piastri, his successor at McLaren, has brought back into fashion in recent weeks. A highly talented driver, he was much stronger than the rotten financier he thought he had become by extracting 50 million dollars from Renault for two years. His bank account was better off, but since his departure from Red Bull for the French team, his genius and even his spirit had gone.
Return to Toro Rosso
Returned last summer by Red Bull to the Toro Rosso of his beginnings, now renamed Racing Bulls, Ricciardo could do nothing. Even against his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, greatly overrated in the paddock. While the irate Japanese scored 22 points this year, the Australian only scored 12. A misery for someone who has won eight races, including an incredible Monaco where he had to try twice, signing the best lap in 2018, Red Bull having forgotten his tires during his first pole in 2016, condemning him to second place that day.
The Cruel but Beautiful World of F1
At Red Bull, they could no longer wait at the risk of seeing Liam Lawson fly away, whose contract was expiring. We will regret the way the Austrians are parting with their Australian, not the reason. Especially if the young New Zealander, much less smiling and endearing than Ricciardo, started to perform and a place became available next to his majesty Max, then our Frenchman from the Filière, Isack Hadjar, battling for the title in F2, would also have his chance… F1 is cruel but it can also be beautiful. This is the message a sad Ricciardo was trying to convey on Sunday as a farewell he didn’t officially have the chance to pronounce: “If Max wins the title by one point, I’ll have a nice Christmas present.”
