Daniel Ricciardo is prepared for this maybe being it for his Formula 1 career after the Singapore GP amid strong speculation the Australian is poised to lose his RB seat to Liam Lawson ahead of the next race.
The 35-year-old, who has won eight grands prix in a 257-race career over 14 seasons, dropped strong hints after finishing Sunday’s race that he would likely not be returning to his seat for the following race in the USA in three weeks’ time.
I have to acknowledge it’s obviously been a little bit of a race-by-race situation and I would obviously have loved the weekend to have gone better, Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1 in a reflective and emotional interview after finishing 18th in a difficult race he was voted the fans’ driver of the day and took the fastest lap after a late pit stop for new tyres.
It didn’t, so I have to be prepared for this maybe being it.
Let’s say I’m at peace with it. At some point it will come for all of us.
Speaking shortly beforehand in the TV pen to Craig Slater, Ricciardo said: I also have to acknowledge why I came back [to the Red Bull stable in 2023] after the McLaren stint. I always said I don’t want to come back just to be on the grid, I want to try and fight back at the front and get back with Red Bull.
Obviously it didn’t come to fruition so then I also have to ask myself the question ‘well, then what else can I achieve and what else us there to really go for?’
I put my best foot forward, let’s say the fairytale ending didn’t happen but I also have to look back on what it’s been. Thirteen or so years and I’m proud.
And on being voted Sunday’s driver of the day despite his disappointing race, Ricciardo said: Typically the driver of the day is not something us drivers look too much into, but today I can say it’s something I’m appreciative of. That one today means a little something.
Neither RB nor the main Red Bull team have not formally clarified Ricciardo’s position beyond this weekend, although the latter’s team boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Singapore on Friday that they would use the extended break before the US GP – which is the first of a triple-header of races in the Americas – to consider all those options and that sometimes difficult decisions have to be made in order to truly assess Lawson.
These things are under constant review and there is obviously a much bigger picture other than just Daniel as we continue to look at all of our options as we move forward, said Horner.
There’s a natural break coming, with effectively almost a month’s gap to the next race. It’s only natural that you’ll take stock and consider all of those options for the final part of the year.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Daniel Ricciardo says he will know more about his future after Singapore as he addressed rumours that he will leave the sport at the end of the season
It’s not to the detriment of Daniel. We know how he’s performed. We’ve got a lot of data, a lot of knowledge of where Daniel is. It’s a much bigger picture within the whole driver merry-go-round of what the future looks like.
Inevitably, we’ll sit down during this three-week period of off time and consider all of those options.
On current reserve driver Lawson, who impressively stood in for Ricciardo for five races this time last year after the Australian had injured his hand in a crash at Zandvoort, Horner added: Liam, the job that he did for us last year in the RB, was very impressive. We took experience over that because Daniel was our banker for if Sergio [Perez] were to drop the ball. And Daniel’s had a reasonable season but it hasn’t been a stellar year.
Now the question is, how good is Liam? And sometimes difficult decisions have to be made in order to get those answers. We’ll sit down with all of those options available to us during the three-week gap.
More to follow…
Just six races remain in Formula 1 2024 and the season resumes with the United States Grand Prix in Austin from October 18-20, live on Sky Sports F1.