The Formula 1 season has come to a close. In his annual end-of-year report, driver and F1 analyst Tom Coronel, in his unique style, measures up all the drivers. After the top 3, it’s now time for the flop 3 of the past season. Today: Daniel Ricciardo, the man who lost his smile when he lost his seat at Visa RB to Liam Lawson during the season.
Tom Coronel: “A nice guy, a fun guy, absolutely nothing wrong with him, but he’s just had too many chances. I thought it was unfair that he suddenly got the seat at Visa RB from Nyck de Vries in 2022. I fundamentally disagreed with that. Because he was too old and was actually already gone.”
“For me, Ricciardo, the racer, stopped when he left Red Bull after 2016 and went for the 25 million at Renault. He should have just stayed as Max Verstappen’s teammate, he could have learned a lot there. But for every driver, as soon as you stop believing in yourself and are afraid of someone else, then it’s over for you. He’s had enough chances over the past few years. At Renault, at McLaren, at Visa RB, but it just didn’t work anymore, it was over. He shouldn’t have raced at all this year. He hasn’t shown anything memorable. I rate him a 4, but I’ll give him a 4.5 because he’s such a nice guy. But it’s over, done and dusted.
