Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from the F1 grid was one of the defining, bittersweet moments of an otherwise thrilling 2024 season, with RB announcing his exit just hours after the Singapore GP. There has been much speculation about whether Ricciardo was aware of this impending departure or if Red Bull blindsided him.
It has since come to light that he knew what was coming and even requested that the team keep it under wraps. Ricciardo—an eight-time race winner—wanted to go out on a high before the imminent end of his RB stint.
“We had agreed with Daniel that we would not communicate it,” RB CEO Peter Bayer said to AMuS. “We knew that we would look a bit odd as a team. But we also did this to protect the driver. It was his wish. “
There were rumors that it would be Ricciardo’s last race weekend, and although the Faenza-based team did not confirm this, the emotions on the honey badger’s face said it all. Ricciardo looked on the verge of tears at several stages of the Grand Prix weekend, and in his post-race interview with Karun Chandhok, he spoke about wanting to ‘take it all in’ — a huge hint.
“To the end, he believed that he would be at the forefront in qualifying and show it to everyone. I have never seen such a mental strength that this person has in an athlete,” Bayer added.
Ricciardo is still in touch with RB bosses
Bayer lamented over the fact that Ricciardo did not get the ending he deserved. A Q1 exit followed by a last-place finish under the Marina Bay lights was far from the ideal send-off the Australian would have hoped for.
However, he did help RB’s parent team Red Bull with one last push-lap when he pitted for new soft tires and took the extra point for the fastest lap away from McLaren that night. It was not huge in hindsight, but was a crucial point on the occasion.
FASTEST LAP FOR DANIEL RICCIARDO!
The Aussie pitted on the penultimate lap #F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/T46xPnNgLW
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
Ricciardo did not end his time with RB and Red Bull on a bad note, as Bayer revealed that he still talks to Team Principal Laurent Mekies. “It was important to us that at the end of the day, we could look in the mirror and say that we did it right. Even if the whole world and its nine million Instagram fans beat us up,” he concluded.
