F1 | Fastest lap? A tribute to Ricciardo, not a gift to Red Bull

Sometimes in Formula 1 you see the complication of what could be simple matters. Daniel Ricciardo took part in what will most likely be his last Grand Prix in Formula 1 in Singapore. It could have been a weekend to celebrate the career of ‘Honey Badger’, the entire paddock would have given him the tribute he deserved, instead for the entire weekend Ricciardo wore a gag that did not allow him to say what he already knows. In the paddock there were those who hypothesized bureaucratic quibbles, others who said they were convinced that an official farewell will come later.

Throughout the weekend, Daniel’s eyes spoke for him. He held out as long as he could, then at the end of the race, answering yet another question about his future, he gave in. A long pause, then a few words: “I feel a lot of emotions and feelings, what can I say, the cockpit… it’s something I’ve been used to for many years.”

Then the eyes became watery and Ricciardo walked away, returning to the Racing Bulls hospitality. But even here there was a moment of emotion, because the team staff had lined up to greet him with a long applause. At the end of the race there were also other signs, such as the re-entry lap after the checkered flag, covered by Ricciardo at a very slow pace, and also the time he took before exiting the car.

Fastest lap: a tribute to Ricciardo or a gift to Red Bull?

This scenario also includes the fastest lap that sparked some controversy, as Ricciardo effectively took a point away from Lando Norris. During lap 58, the race engineer, Pierre Hamelin, asked Daniel (now far from the points zone) what he thought of fitting an additional set of softs to aim for the fastest lap.

Ricciardo (who started on the soft tyres) had switched to the mediums on lap 10 and returned to the softs on lap 46. Then, having received the proposal from his engineer, Daniel returned to the pit lane on lap 58 and once on track he achieved his goal, lowering Norris’s time by half a second.

“I heard that Red Bull offered $3.5 million for the fastest lap, right?” Ricciardo said with a smile. “My engineer actually offered me one last set of tyres and I didn’t say no. I just tried to enjoy the moment a bit. But if Max wins the championship by one point, I think I’ve got myself a nice Christmas present!”

McLaren didn’t take it well, but without raising their voices. “Bringing in the sporting spirit would be out of place,” commented Andrea Stella. “We will make sure that the fight for the world championship doesn’t become a question of a single point. However, I want to say that this is a Constructors’ championship, there must be no coalitions, but I have no reason to say that Racing Bulls made the fastest lap to support Red Bull. I just find it a little… how to say peculiar.”

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“It is right to leave space for young people”

After the race, Ricciardo was very clear about what his expectations were when he returned to the team that allowed him to enter Formula 1 ten years earlier at the end of 2022.
“My goal was to do well and convince that I deserved a place in Red Bull,” Daniel admitted, “and today I feel like I didn’t succeed. So I asked myself: ‘Okay, what else can I do in this position? What can give me satisfaction?’ I was also a young driver and I think that at a certain point it is right to give space. If I am not able to fight at the front with Red Bull, then I have to ask myself, ‘What am I staying on the grid for?’. And that is something I have accepted.”

“I was aware that this weekend I could have concluded my story in Formula 1,” Ricciardo concluded, “so I tried to enjoy it. I think I am in a better condition than in 2022, when I concluded my adventure in McLaren. I tried to become world champion, but it is not an easy goal to achieve, some do it, others don’t. I can’t even be too hard on myself, I am happy with what I have managed to do, so there is no sadness or sense of regret thinking about what could have been. I am calm and proud of my career.”