Daniel Ricciardo's F1 exit confirmed, RB axe falls

Red Bull has finally confirmed Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Formula 1.

Although it is widely accepted that Ricciardo competed in his last race for RB last weekend in Singapore, there has been no official statement on the situation from the team or parent company Red Bull.

But on Thursday afternoon, Red Bull's social media channels recognized Ricciardo's long-standing contribution, which included seven of the eight victories of his career.

Under a post titled “Thank you, Daniel” on RB's official feed, team boss Laurent Mekies said: “He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with his fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a strong team spirit.”

Ricciardo also posted on Instagram some words of appreciation to those who have played a role in his F1 career.

He wrote: “I have loved this sport my whole life. It is wild and wonderful and it has been a journey. Thank you to the teams and individuals who have played their part in making it happen. Thank you to the fans who sometimes love the sport more than I do haha. There will always be its ups and downs but it has been fun and honestly I wouldn't change a thing. Until the next adventure.”

While Ricciardo was still unclear about his own future after Singapore, it was clear from his body language and messages that he expected it to be his last race in F1.

After the race, the Australian said, at times very emotionally, that he was at peace with the situation.

“I tried to enjoy it naturally [the Singapore Grand Prix weekend]a bit like the end of '22 with McLaren,” reflected Ricciardo.

“Of course I was aware that this might be my last race, so I tried to enjoy it.

“I think I'm a lot happier in the sport now than I was then. So if that's it, let's say I have a little more peace and pride in my career.”

Consistency instead of acceleration of the problem

Ricciardo's return to F1 last year with RB was seen as an opportunity for him to show that he still has the qualities that could secure him a place in Red Bull's main squad.

However, his prospects were not helped by an accident at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix in which he broke his wrist and was out of action for several weeks.

Despite being fully fit again this season and having a potential opportunity at Red Bull due to Sergio Pérez's problems, Ricciardo has failed to deliver the consistency his bosses wanted.

There were highlights like a brilliant fourth place in the sprint in Miami and a run to eighth place in Canada, but there were also too many occasions where he struggled for better results.

RB team boss Laurent Mekies, however, made it clear that Ricciardo's natural speed was never the problem, but that he and the team were never able to consistently achieve this speed.

In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Mekies said: “They and a few other people have asked us so many times if Daniel can still do it. And I think the answer on the track was: yes, he can still do it.”

“Look at Miami, look at Canada, look at those races where he showed the pure speed was there. Did we manage to pull that off consistently enough? No, we didn't.

“It's never the driver or the team. It's both of them together, you know. So have we found the sweet spot often enough? Probably not.

“Has he shown that he still has ultimate speed when the sweet spot is there? Yes, he definitely does.”

Mekies said that if Ricciardo had driven for a team that had found the sweet spot more often, the situation might have been different.

“It's quite possible that tomorrow you'll find a car that will keep you in that optimal position for most races,” he added.

“It would have been different if we had never seen the speed limit, but we saw it several times.

“And we have never hidden our share of responsibility: we have tried to give him the car he needs to express himself and we have tried to find the ideal compromise most of the time.”

Despite his contribution to Ricciardo, RB has not yet officially announced that Liam Lawson will be Yuki Tsunoda's teammate for the rest of the season.