Daniel Ricciardo came back to the Red Bull family by joining AlphaTauri (now RB) midway into the 2023 season. Immediately upon his arrival, he declared that he had his eyes on the main Red Bull seat, and would give it his all to achieve the same. Unfortunately, in just his second race, he suffered a setback.
After an underwhelming second debut for RB at the Hungaroring, Ricciardo suffered a big crash in Zandvoort during the Dutch GP weekend. The crash on its own was concerning, but what officially put him on the sidelines for the next five race weekends was a broken wrist.
On the Sky Sports F1 podcast, former driver Anthony Davidson said, “That moment was really pivotal to Daniel’s future at the team and his existence in F1 as a whole, because it allowed a young driver, hungry, snapping at his heels, that chance to get behind the wheel.”
A nasty moment for our Aussie pair during FP2
Daniel Ricciardo is being checked at the local hospital after the collision#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RXdiSBLbtx
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2023
Davidson was, of course, referring to Liam Lawson, who filled in for Ricciardo in those five races. He didn’t score points until the last of those five outings in Singapore, but left a lasting impression on the paddock and crucially on Helmut Marko.
The Austrian was never a big supporter of Ricciardo’s Red Bull homecoming, and put added pressure on the honey badger throughout, constantly hinting at the fact that he would prefer Lawson over him. With six races left in 2024, Marko’s reported desire came true. Ricciardo has officially left RB, and Lawson has replaced him.
Ricciardo’s crash solidified Lawson’s Red Bull future
According to Davidson, Red Bull would have lost Lawson to another team, had Ricciardo not crashed in The Netherlands. Instead, what happened was that Red Bull saw how talented he was, and decided that they had to keep him tied at all costs.
BREAKING: Daniel Ricciardo is out of the Dutch Grand Prix with a break in his hand after his FP2 incident, and will be will be replaced by Liam Lawson.
Get well soon Daniel!#DutchGP #F1 @danielricciardo @AlphaTauriF1 pic.twitter.com/5sz5TSkaK5
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2023
“Since then, he’s probably been pestering Marko, pestering, pestering,” said Davidson. “‘I can do better than that. Put me back in the car. Otherwise, I’m off””.
Lawson now has his chance to show that Marko’s faith in him was justified. The New Zealander will get six races to prove that he is good enough to get a full-time RB seat — maybe even Red Bull — in 2025.
