Formula 1 said goodbye to Daniel Ricciardo at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, as it became increasingly clear that the RB driver was set to be replaced by Liam Lawson.
That news was officially confirmed on 26 September, meaning Lawson will partner Yuki Tsunoda for the final six rounds of the 2024 season, leaving the future of the eight-time grand prix winner unclear.
There are just two spots left on the 2025 grid and, with one seat being the Red Bull one currently held by Sergio Perez, his only chance of staying in F1 is via a shock move to Sauber.
It’s therefore likely to be the end of Ricciardo’s F1 career, which began in 2011 and has twice seen the 35-year-old finish third in the championship - his best result.
So what are the 10 career-defining moments for Ricciardo in F1?
Red Bull sends Ricciardo to the HRT F1 Team on loan
Ricciardo became a Red Bull junior driver when he was 18 years old having just finished sixth in the 2007 Formula Renault Italia standings. This meant Red Bull supported his career from that moment onwards and in 2010 he became its test and reserve driver, a role he also held for sister team Toro Rosso which is now RB.
The Australian continued to impress and in June 2011 Ricciardo was finally offered the opportunity to become an F1 driver. But it wasn’t with either of the Red Bull-owned squads, because the operation had paid the struggling Hispania Racing Team to take Ricciardo on loan for the final 11 rounds of the season.
Ricciardo did well despite a poor car, as over time he gradually became quicker than veteran team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi - out-qualifying him for grands prix like Italy, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. It was a vital learning experience and at the end of the year, Ricciardo was announced as a Toro Rosso driver for 2012, where he spent two seasons before a promotion to Red Bull.
Ricciardo claims maiden victory during debut season at Red Bull
Ricciardo moved to reigning world champions Red Bull for 2014 after fellow Aussie Mark Webber called time on his 12-year F1 career. Although Red Bull had just won the previous four titles, Ricciardo wasn’t exactly thrown into an easy situation because he was up against the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel in the first year of turbo-hybrid racing.
But Ricciardo thrived and quickly asserted himself as the faster driver, in which his impressive start culminated in a maiden grand prix victory at the season’s seventh round in Montreal.
It was a frantic race which saw the Red Bull driver running second behind Nico Rosberg with three laps to go despite starting in sixth. But trouble had hit Mercedes, as that year’s world champion Lewis Hamilton retired on lap 46 with a brake failure while team-mate Rosberg, who he bitterly fought for the title, was forced to drive with less engine power.
This resulted in Ricciardo passing Rosberg for the lead with two laps remaining and that eventual victory was huge, as the then 24-year-old now held a strong upper hand on Vettel.
It was the first of three victories for him in 2014, which resulted in a new long-term contract while Vettel departed for Ferrari in 2015.
Ricciardo debuts his famous ‘shoey’ celebration in Hockenheim
Ricciardo fully established himself as one of F1’s leading drivers after the 2014 Canadian GP and 2016 saw him finish third in the championship for the second time in three years. That season he also won in Malaysia, but his podium at the Hockenheimring two months prior was perhaps the more memorable moment as Ricciardo debuted the shoey.
The shoey is a unique Australian celebration which entails a driver drinking champagne from their race-worn shoe on the podium. It was introduced to motorsport by V8 Utes racer Ryal Harris, before Ricciardo brought it to F1 after his second-place finish at the 2016 German GP.
It no doubt caught everybody by surprise but people loved the moment. So whenever he scored a podium afterwards, Ricciardo did a shoey - often because others encouraged him - and sometimes dragged others into doing one too like Hamilton, Rosberg, Max Verstappen, Martin Brundle and even Sir Patrick Stewart.
The highs and lows of Monaco
Ricciardo claimed an incredible victory at the 2018 Monaco GP as he drove the final 50 laps with 25% less horsepower while fending off former team-mate Vettel who was right behind. But it came after heartbreak just two years prior, as Ricciardo led the 2016 Monaco GP until a botched pitstop 32 laps in where Red Bull did not have the proper tyres ready in time
This led to a nine-second stop and Ricciardo left the pit lane behind Hamilton, who eventually won the race. The Aussie was understandably furious, but redemption came in 2018 as he arguably produced the best drive of his career which was Michael Schumacher-esc according to team boss Christian Horner.
Crash with Verstappen which potentially caused Ricciardo’s Red Bull exit
Verstappen and Ricciardo were team-mates between 2016 and 2018, during which the pair became good friends and were very closely matched on track. But over time, it was clear that Red Bull was placing its long-term future in Verstappen, who signed a new deal at the end of 2017 while talks with Ricciardo rumbled on ahead of his contract expiration the following year.
The then 28-year-old was at the stage of his career where the next step was more important than ever, given Ricciardo was heading towards his later years so took a lot of time to decide. In the end, he made a shock move to Renault for 2019 and the aftermath of the 2018 Azerbaijan GP is perhaps seen as a catalyst to that decision.
At the season’s fourth round, he and Verstappen had been battling all race until it came to an explosive end on lap 40 when the Red Bull pair collided down the start-finish straight. Verstappen, who had just overcutted Ricciardo for fourth, made a late move to defend the inside and his team-mate locked up before hitting the back of the sister RB14.
It was arguable who was to blame, but Ricciardo thought Verstappen had brake-tested him yet felt the team favoured the eventual world champion more on that occasion.
So, it was perhaps a sign that Ricciardo would never be the number one driver as long as Verstappen stayed at Red Bull. This made Baku 2018 a key point in the Aussie believing the grass was greener elsewhere.
Ricciardo gives up life at the front to move to Renault
Ricciardo’s move to Renault is one which shocked the entire paddock as it came with a lot of risk, given the French marque ultimately finished fourth and 297 points behind Red Bull in the 2018 championship.
But the grand prix winner cited the need for a fresh challenge, saying there was not much room left to grow with Red Bull while the Renault project excited him.
Ricciardo hoped that his move would be like that of Hamilton, who left the championship-winning McLaren for midfield Mercedes in 2013 before winning six titles at the Silver Arrows. But Ricciardo’s Renault stint was ultimately not like that at all, because the team dropped to fifth in the 2019 standings while the Aussie finished ninth in the drivers’ championship.
Ahead of the following campaign, Ricciardo announced that he will join McLaren at the end of 2020 meaning he contested just two seasons for Renault. Although his second year there was much better - Ricciardo finished fifth in the championship with two podiums - the move to Renault will perhaps be his lasting legacy as it actually regressed his career instead of kicking it on.
Ricciardo becomes the star of Drive to Survive
Drive to Survive has caused F1’s popularity to skyrocket and Ricciardo became an enigmatic protagonist during season one, which followed the championship in 2018. It closely documented a crucial year in Ricciardo’s career as he weighed up his future options and the third episode – titled “Redemption” – captured his victory in Monaco, as well as the infamous collision in Baku.
Ricciardo would also feature in other episodes and later series becoming somewhat of a standout star for the Netflix programme. Fans resonated with what they saw on screen and this glimpse behind the visor helped both him and the series to garner more interest.
Vettel leaving Ferrari triggers Ricciardo’s move to McLaren
Despite an underwhelming debut year at Renault, Ricciardo was still highly thought of so it was no surprise that McLaren signed him for the 2021 season after its driver Carlos Sainz opted to replace Vettel at Ferrari.
The expectation for Ricciardo at McLaren was high, yet it just wasn’t meant to be as he struggled to get to grips with the car.
From the off, Ricciardo was slower than team-mate Lando Norris and come the 2021 summer break he was 63 points behind the Brit, a gap he failed to truly bridge.
That’s despite Ricciardo claiming an emotional victory at the 2021 Italian GP to which he said “never left” over team radio. But, instead of that causing his fortunes to change, it ultimately proved to be an anomaly amid a very disappointing two years at McLaren.
It ended in Ricciardo being dropped for the 2023 season, despite him originally being contracted for that year, placing his F1 future in big doubt.
Successful Silverstone test gives Ricciardo one last chance in F1
Ricciardo’s McLaren departure meant he was without a seat at the start of 2023, so he returned to Red Bull to become its reserve driver. However, rookie Nyck de Vries struggled significantly at AlphaTauri - formerly Toro Rosso - and his future was thrown under question after just 10 point-less grands prix.
With Ricciardo as reserve driver, the Red Bull-owned team knew it had a ready-made replacement and a Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone in the RB19 gave him the opportunity to show that he still had it.
Ricciardo impressed and it was revealed that he clocked times which would have put him on the front row of the previous weekend’s British GP. So, Red Bull moved quickly and placed him at AlphaTauri for the rest of the season replacing De Vries.
This gave Ricciardo that lifeline he so desperately craved to show F1 that he did still have a future in the series.
Crash at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix marks the beginning of the end for Ricciardo
Ricciardo’s F1 return only lasted an initial two races because he broke his hand in second practice for the Dutch GP by crashing at Zandvoort’s Turn 3.
This gave Lawson his series debut and the Kiwi contested the next five grands prix, during which he impressed by scoring points in Singapore after reaching Q3. Before Ricciardo’s injury, Lawson, who finished third in the 2022 F2 standings, was never really considered for an F1 drive but his five-race stint allowed him to showcase his skills and demonstrate that he is good enough to compete in motorsport’s top category.
It even led to Horner stating that the 22-year-old will one day become a full-time grand prix driver. So, from the moment Ricciardo returned to the cockpit in Austin, questions of when will Lawson come back were constantly asked even though the team opted to keep him as its reserve driver for 2024.
But no points in the opening eight grands prix, though Ricciardo did finish fourth in the Miami sprint, meant the writing was on the wall for the Perth-born driver resulting in Lawson being given the opportunity once again.
