Daniel Ricciardo’s stint with RB did not go as planned. The Aussie was supposed to shake off the rust and emerge worthy of replacing Sergio Perez at Red Bull. As he failed to achieve that mark, not many expected him to race with Red Bull’s sister team beyond 2024. That was the reason why his sacking after the Singapore GP did not come as a surprise.
However, what came as a surprise was the way RB handled it. The least Ricciardo fans expected was an early announcement of the decision so that the Honey Badger would receive a goodbye from the fans befitting of his status in the sport. Turns out, the decision to withhold the news of his departure was Ricciardo’s and not the team’s.
“We sat together in our office at two in the morning and asked him how we should do it. He told us to let him finish the race,” Auto Motor und Sport quoted RB CEO Peter Bayer as saying.
Ricciardo was determined to prove himself and believed he could deliver a strong qualifying performance in Singapore. As he failed to achieve that, the #3 driver wanted the team to let him finish the race before making the announcement.
RB honored his request and released the news of his departure and the arrival of Liam Lawson after almost a week. Since it was Ricciardo’s decision to withhold the news, it absolves RB of all blame.
Danny Ric ❤️
An emotional Daniel Ricciardo speaks after the #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/53hD09HZ4z
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
Yet team principal Laurent Mekies admitted the team could have handled the situation differently. However, he maintained that the team expressed their love for Ricciardo, as did the fans. Therefore, he wasn’t sure if they could do any better, as Ricciardo was kept in the loop from the beginning.
Has Ricciardo made peace with never returning to F1?
Ever since his split with McLaren, Ricciardo maintained that he did not plan on returning to F1 just for the sake of it. The #3 driver wanted to return to a team that would give him the opportunity to fight at the front. He missed that opportunity by failing to prove himself at RB and that might turn out to be his final stint in F1.
The Honey Badger may already have made peace with that thought. The sentiment emerged when he appeared on an Instagram post wearing a hat depicting a not-so-cryptic message.
It read, “I’m retired. Having a good time is my job.” The message could be the indication of his earlier comment where he admitted that he wouldn’t take up the reserve driver role at Red Bull again just to stay in the F1 fold.
