Daniel Ricciardo's Departure: Was VCARB Justified in Dropping Him?
After a week's worth of rumours in the run-up to the Singapore Grand Prix, we finally had confirmation that Daniel Ricciardo was leaving F1. Visa CashApp RB (VCARB) have dropped him from their driver line up for the rest of the season. They've now opted to replace him with Red Bull development driver, Liam Lawson. This was some of the least surprising breaking news we've had in F1 after the amount of rumours circulating the paddock after the Singapore Grand Prix. But was VCARB justified in dropping Ricciardo? And could they have handled things better?
Tsunoda vs. Ricciardo
In motorsport, your teammate is always going to be your best benchmark. You'll be in the same machinery with the same information and data to work with. Looking at their qualifying head-to-head, Tsunoda was the winner of that battle by a landslide at 13-5. As the season went on, it was clear that he was the VCARB driver that could hook up the better lap on a Saturday. On a race day, though, the battle was a little closer. The head-to-head was 9-8, with both drivers not finishing the Chinese Grand Prix. But it was still a battle that Tsunoda was winning.
When you look at the average race pace between the two drivers across the races that they both finished in, then once again, Tsunoda came out on top. There were only a few races where Ricciardo seemed to trail behind his teammate significantly, however. Monaco had the largest difference in average race pace, with Tsunoda being nearly a second faster. However, Ricciardo was stuck in a DRS train behind Alonso. If we look at the races where both drivers managed to cross the finish line, then Ricciardo only managed to have the quicker race pace on five occasions.
These stats weren't the ones that Red Bull wanted to see. Ricciardo is the older and more experienced driver out of the two. He has race wins and multiple podiums under his belt. He's driven with top teams in his career, unlike Tsunoda. Mekies, Horner and Marko had expected him to outpace his teammate by a large margin. As the season unfolded, though, Ricciardo wasn't able to do that. He wasn't looking like a viable option to replace Sergio Perez, should Red Bull have needed him to. And by summer break, I had a feeling that Daniel Ricciardo wouldn't have a seat at VCARB for the 2025 season.
Was it the right thing to do?
Did this justify Ricciardo being dropped in the middle of the season without a proper send-off? I don't think so and a lot of the motorsport world seems to be in agreement. We've had one mid-season swap already this year when Williams let go of Logan Sargeant not long after summer break. Whilst I don't like seeing any driver leave in the middle of a season, it was easier to understand with the amount his crashes were costing the team. Daniel Ricciardo hasn't had the same kind of problems though. He's only recorded two DNFs this season. Yes, his results haven't been what Red Bull for hoped for, but I don't think it was justification for Ricciardo to not be able to finish out his season with the team.
I think a lot of the anger from fans has stemmed from the fact there was no chance to say goodbye to one of the biggest personalities on the grid. He's a driver that has achieved what some drivers would dream of. Grand Prix wins on some of the most iconic tracks, racing for the likes of Red Bull and McLaren and one of the most recognisable drivers on the grid. It feels like the team cheated us out of a goodbye for Ricciardo. Announcing his departure after the Singapore Grand Prix meant that he didn't have the send-off that he deserved to have. And whilst there isn't anything we can do to change that, I wish him all the best for the future.
If you want to list or watch my podcast episode on Daniel Ricciardo then you can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcast or YouTube.