Official: Ricciardo has been dropped, Lawson to replace him

Proof, as if you needed any more, that Formula One is brutal comes courtesy of news you all suspected but has now been made official: Daniel Ricciardo has been replaced by Liam Lawson at RB.

It marks the end of the road for the perennially smiling, jovial Danny Ric – a driver once considered one of F1’s strongest, but who this season has been outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

His still-likely-warm-from-Singapore seat will instead be taken up by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson. The New Zealander has form subbing in for Ricciardo: in 2023 he filled in because the Aussie had sustained a broken wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix.

“Liam has been a Red Bull reserve driver since 2022,” said RB, “making his grand prix debut in Zandvoort last year during Daniel’s recovery period. His impressive five-race drive saw him score points for the team, finishing ninth in the Singapore GP.”

It’s this form that has no doubt helped catapult him into driving for the rest of the season, likely as a warm-up to see if he’s up to partnering Tsunoda for 2025. As for Danny?

“Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us,” said team principal Laurent Mekies. “He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit.

“Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.”

Ricciardo entered the big leagues back in 2014 from the Red Bull junior team, partnering Seb Vettel… who he went on to outscore in his first full season. He took three wins in 2014, and seven wins in total throughout his Red Bull years, the latter seeing him line-up against… Max Verstappen.

He left of course, in 2018, moving to Renault, before switching again to McLaren in 2021. The latter seeing him line-up against… Lando Norris. He had to make way for an incoming Oscar Piastri, spent a year as a Red Bull reservist, before returning properly to RB midway through 2023. He never really looked the same.

Speaking at the end of last weekend’s Singapore GP - after he took the controversial fastest lap - Ricciardo had a feeling it could have been his last. “I do feel, let’s say, at peace with it,” he said last Sunday.

“At some point, it’ll come for all of us. I tried to get back into Red Bull, it didn’t work out, so then I also have to say, ‘what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?’

“Let’s say maybe the fairytale ending didn’t happen, but I also have to look back on what it’s been. Fourteen or so years and I’m proud.”

Like we said, brutal. Farewell, Danny.