F1 | Goodbye Ricciardo, Marko: “He wasn’t at the level to return to Red Bull”

It was already clear in Singapore, with the entire team and paddock gathered around him, but today the official confirmation arrived. Daniel Ricciardo will no longer be on the starting grid starting from the next United States GP in Austin, where he will be replaced by Liam Lawson, who will compete in the final part of the 2024 season alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

A substitution that brings to mind the path of the Australian in F1 in recent months, from the possibility of replacing Sergio Perez in Red Bull to losing his seat in favour of Lawson, who had performed well in the last championship by replacing the injured Ricciardo.

The path somehow hoped and dreamed by Red Bull to bring back “the prodigal son” to the official team after the choice to abandon the brand in favor of adventures in Renault and McLaren, has not materialized. As explained by Helmut Marko, who commented on Ricciardo’s farewell to F1 after the announcement of his replacement with Lawson, this has opened the doors to other evaluations, first of all the fact of being able to give space and judge the value of the other drivers of the junior team.

“Ricciardo was brought back to F1 with the possibility of moving to Red Bull Racing if he showed adequate performances at Racing Bulls. But you have to see it in a broader context. We have a good number of young drivers like Hadjar and Lawson,” commented Helmut Marko in an interview with Motorsport.com’s sister publication, motorsport-total.comunderlining how there are other pilots on the launch pad whose future will be important to evaluate.

Hadjar is currently second in Formula 2 after losing the lead in the championship at the last race in Baku, although the Frenchman still has two weekends to try to turn the championship around and regain the lead. However, there are other drivers, such as Iwasa, who has returned to Japan where he is competing in Super Formula after completing two years in F2 where he achieved a fifth and a fourth place in the overall standings.

“There is also Iwasa, without making rankings. We have to look to the future and we also want to make comparisons: where does Lawson stand compared to Yuki [Tsunoda]? And then, for the future, what will be the driver lineups for our two teams?”, added Marko.

The announcement of Ricciardo’s replacement comes after a Singapore Grand Prix in which the former Racing Bulls driver achieved the fastest lap: a sort of farewell, which actually also came in handy for Red Bull in the fight for the championship against Lando Norris, given that he was snatched the extra point. Ricciardo had been informed that the one in Marina Bay would be his last race with the colors of the Faenza team, but this was not even officially communicated to the press and fans, in what turned out to be an almost surreal farewell.

“He had been informed and the farewell performance was, I think, the fastest lap,” Marko said, before explaining how Red Bull handled both the communication of Ricciardo’s farewell and why there had been no official statement from the team before today.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Racing

“Both are linked to a series of factors and obligations. You also have to pay attention to sponsors. But Ricciardo said very well that he is at peace with himself, that he has accepted the situation and that we will see what his plans are for the future.”

“But even the fastest lap in Singapore is, in my opinion, a good farewell. And he still showed his potential, not consistently and not at the level that would have justified his arrival at Red Bull Racing.”

His move to Red Bull is one of the keys to understanding this story, because until a few months ago there was intense talk of his return to the top team which, however, never materialized, also due to the confirmation of Sergio Perez during the summer break. There are several elements to this story, but it is also true that, since he returned to AlphaTauri in mid-2023, he has often alternated convincing performances with more difficult moments, where he has not managed to convince.

In the time spent back in Faenza, the seventh position in Mexico in 2023 undoubtedly stands out, in addition to the nice fourth place in the Miami sprint this year and the top ten in Canada, Austria and Belgium. Certainly interesting results, which confirm that Ricciardo still had that spark, but far too sporadic and certainly not enough to convince Red Bull to focus on him again even in the long run, especially with the risk of losing Lawson, with Sauber and Audi interested in a potential engagement for him in view of next season.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

“I think it was clearly communicated to him that he had to be significantly better than Yuki Tsunoda. And he only managed to do that in a few races,” Marko explained when asked if and how there was a real possibility for Ricciardo to return to Red Bull, especially since before the summer break it had emerged quite clearly that the Australian was on pole for Perez’s seat, also causing the ire of Tsunoda himself, who thought he was ready to make the big jump.

“I think a fourth place in a sprint race, but otherwise Yuki was the strongest driver and so it was clear that this comeback or this story of the prodigal son returning to Red Bull Racing unfortunately didn’t work out.”

Ricciardo’s future is unclear after leaving Racing Bulls, but the Australian has already explained that he does not want to be a reserve driver or simulator driver. A plan that worked in 2023, but only because at that time he wanted to maintain contact with Formula 1 and not completely exit the circuit in the hope of a return. However, now that his career in the top flight seems to have come to an end, Ricciardo is no longer interested in that role, although Red Bull would like to keep him as a reserve, also for commercial reasons.

“We had a conversation and it is clear that we are interested in having him as a third driver. He is one of the most popular Formula 1 drivers, especially in the United States. But he wants time to consider his entire future. I don’t think he will compete in another category. And on the other hand, if he is not actively competing anymore, he will never want to do these sponsorship and PR activities. Ricciardo also has a good bank account and I would say it is up to him to understand how he wants to shape his future life,” added Marko.