Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes Daniel Ricciardo put up a “charade” in Singapore despite knowing before the Grand Prix weekend, that it would be his last race. Since the Aussie had to carry out this act, which Chandhok believes was due to contractual reasons, Chandhok felt sorry for him.
The Indian former driver made these remarks while answering some fan questions on Reddit.
Speaking of how Ricciardo had to carry out this pretense at the Marina Bay Circuit, he said, “I can only assume there were some contractual reasons as to why it played out the way it did. You know, Daniel, I felt for him that Singapore weekend because it seemed like from the Thursday he knew he was out after Singapore.”
Before his final race, Ricciardo didn’t appear too sad and remained his usual self in the paddock. He was all smiles and refused to be pessimistic about his future in the sport.
“He knew that was his last weekend. But he had to go through this whole weekend of this charade of saying, ‘I don’t know, let’s see what happens, blah, blah, blah’“.
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Chandhok added that he felt “awkward” not only for Ricciardo but also for the F1 fans who witnessed such a send-off for one of the most popular drivers on the grid. The honey badger finished P18 on the evening, and the only thing RB (his team) did for him was pitted him for softer tires toward the end of the race so that he got the fastest lap.
Lastly, Chandhok also felt sorry for Liam Lawson, who had to deal with the criticisms that came his way because of how he was replacing Ricciardo.
Ricciardo knew the Singapore GP was his last race
Although Ricciardo carried out this “charade,” as Chandhok referenced, there is good reason to believe that he knew that the Singapore GP was his last F1 race. After the outing, the Australian spent a lot longer in the car before exiting it.
When asked about the same, he told F1 journalist Lawrence Barretto in an interview, “The cockpit is something that I got very used to for many years. And yeah, just wanted to savor the moment“. Similarly, veteran F1 photojournalist Kym Illman also pointed out how Ricciardo stayed at the track for much longer than other drivers.
Illman stated that Ricciardo was at the circuit till 2 AM in the morning to bid farewell to many of the journalists who were with him. Such actions from Ricciardo seem to suggest that he knew throughout the race weekend that Singapore was the last time he would step into an F1 car.
