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

Daniel Ricciardo, HRT Formula One Team HRT F111

Photo by: Sutton Images

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

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, 1st position, performs a shoey on the podium

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

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.

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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

Daniel Ricciardo, Renault F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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.

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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

Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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.

For the second weekend in a row, one of the more interesting technical nuances from the Singapore Grand Prix revolved around McLaren and its rear wing choice.

But rather than this being a controversial talking point like in Baku, as attention was grabbed by its ‘mini-DRS’, instead the fascinating element to last week was about it bucking the trend with its downforce levels.

While the rest of the field took the conventional approach of fitting its cars with their highest downforce selection, McLaren was alone in not doing it – it went a step down on downforce.

This was a decision that the team seemingly settled into early-on in the weekend too.

McLaren split its car from the off. Oscar Piastri went for the max downforce arrangement in FP1, before switching to the step down level that Lando Norris had run from the start.

As its opponents wrestled their machinery around the Singapore street track with high downforce arrangements similar to what would be installed at Monaco and Hungary (inset), McLaren bridged the gap between downforce levels with an updated beam wing arrangement.

The new beam wing arrangement is still a bi-plane layout, with the lower, more loaded element retained.

The upper more slat-like element was increased in size to improve the relationship between the two elements and help create a stronger connection between them, the diffuser and rear wing. 

The ‘mini-DRS’ controversy

McLaren MCL38 rear wing

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

McLaren’s rear wing was a big talking point heading into Singapore, with footage from the rear-facing onboard camera of Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 in Baku showing distortion in the slot gap between the mainplane and upper flap.

This opening up of the gap between wing elements would help reduce drag and increase straight-line speed.

Whilst McLaren is not the only team to be employing flexibility in its rear wing to reduce drag, the means by which McLaren were doing so was a new method from what we’ve seen in the past.

In this instance, there was a secondary effect, whereby the leading edge of the upper flap flexes upwards, which is most visible in the front corners of the flap (red arrow, above).

This ‘mini-DRS’, as it quickly became dubbed, was expected to provide a top speed boost when compared with its rivals – although just how much was not clear. 

The wing passed the FIA regulations with the static load tests but, following pressure from rivals, McLaren agreed with the governing body to make modifications to this low-downforce specification for when it potentially reappears at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s minor tweaks

Red Bull Racing RB20 technical detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Red Bull has been on the backfoot of late, as the RB20 has failed to deliver the level of performance that had been anticipated.

Updates that arrived during the season have further narrowed the car’s working window.

And, whilst the team now seemingly understands where things went wrong for it in terms of the development cycle, the fixes won’t be available overnight.

Regardless of its long-term solutions, it also has to focus its efforts on improving the car on a race-by-race basis and as such, it modified its front brake assembly for the Singapore Grand Prix.

This was an effort to both help improve brake cooling and alter the transmission of heat between the brakes and tyres, via the wheel rim. 

This is the type of small detail change that we’ve seen teams make for a number of years but is less obvious with this generation of car. That is because the outermost brake drum must be sealed, rather than having the openings that many used for aerodynamic effect during previous regulatory eras.

In the case of this new arrangement on the RB20, the design of the inner basket has been altered to include a trench-like cutout, with a window around a portion of the brake disc, which also has a metal component, which may act as a heatsink.

The arrangement that’s being employed will reroute heat being generated by the brakes around the assembly and out the rear-facing duct that’s mounted on the inboard face of the brake duct fence.

Ferrari’s new front wing

Ferrari SF-24 front wing comparison

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Meanwhile, there was a new front wing on the menu for Ferrari in Singapore, as it looked to further capitalise on the performance uplift that its recent floor updates have provided in the last few races. 

Originally scheduled for the United States Grand Prix and fast-tracked for Singapore, it is understood that Ferrari put more of its focus on the wing’s flexibility under load, with rivals McLaren and Mercedes having seemingly made significant gains having focused on its potential.

This has resulted in several alterations being made to the front wing’s architecture, with the change made to the outboard flap and endplate juncture perhaps the most prominent of these features. 

It has taken a very similar approach to McLaren here, as the MCL38’s wing sports a more aggressively dog-eared semi-detached flap design in order to help tune the vortex that’s spilled in that outer corner and had an impact on the wake generated by the wheel assembly thereafter.

The shape and distribution of the flaps has also been adjusted to better suit the aforementioned shift in outboard characteristics, whilst also taking into account how more flexion will have a bearing on its performance from both a downforce and drag perspective.

Notably, there’s also a change to the shape of the central section of the mainplane, with the depth and transitional shape of the drooped section amended.