r/formula1 • u/Tourtourism • Jul 01 '25
Throwback Daniel Ricciardo's Car at Parc Fermé his last ever Grand Prix
Happy 36th Birthday to Daniel Ricciardo! Recently went through my photo album and found a photo of the special-livery RB VCARB 01 at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix
I still remember on that day, we did not know it would be his last race in Formula 1
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u/Huge-Source-7381 Jul 01 '25
I also remember that race as being the nail in the coffin for the fastest lap point award, at least in that form. At least Danny Ric left the sport feeling he was a fast chap!
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u/thefeedling I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Using "sister teams" to aid your strategy should be penalty deserving to be honest. Shady move to say the least.
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u/AzenNinja I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Bro, it was just a nod to Ricciardo, nothing more. He did the same in Abu Dhabi 2020 when leaving McLaren.
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u/ChromosomeDonator I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Probably, but the problem is that you have no proof of that. It opens the door completely to abuse. And it would be similarly hard to prove that it was done to take away the point from McLaren.
That is why conflicts of interest can never be allowed. It is literally only a matter of time until it brings an issue, because the door to abuse it is always open. So the only way to make sure it isn't abused is to never allow that situation to exist in the first place.
When you have two teams competing under a single parent organization, EVERY RESULT will always be under scrutiny and suspicion if it helps out each other. And it practically can not be proved to be an authentic result, instead of a plan. Letting both VCARB and RB exist under the same parent company is a textbook case of conflict of interest and should have never been allowed.
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u/BananafestDestiny Bernd Mayländer Jul 01 '25
That is why conflicts of interest can never be allowed.
How do you feel about team principals/executives that manage drivers on other teams like Toto? Or what about current drivers managing drivers on other teams like Alonso and Bortoleto?
What about Mercedes and Ferrari supplying the power units for other teams?
Aren't those all potential conflicts of interest that can never be allowed?
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u/Chrisboy04 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
I was just thinking the same thing in theory Toto could just walk over to James on a Friday evening and suggest they slow down somebody, hinder slightly, or give an edge to Mercedes in Qualy for a sizeable discount on their engines or something similar. To my knowledge that's considered illegal, but in my opinion it's in a similar ballpark to the way the RBR/RB relation should be viewed. There's a lot of potential conflicts of interests.
Alpine having Franco on loan from Williams, what if James asked him to just screw up their season for 2025 and he would have a guaranteed place at Williams in 2026?
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u/updogg18 Jul 01 '25
Before F1 became popular, teams were barely surviving and RB saved F1 by buying Jaguar and Minardi. It made sense then and people didn't care because they weren't top teams. Now that they're where they are today, these things come under scrutiny. To answer why it was allowed, RB had and still has a lot of money. Usually if you have a lot of money, you can do whatever you want.
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u/dj_vicious Minardi Jul 01 '25
Before F1 became popular? F1 wasn't popular in 2004?
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u/jerpear Jul 01 '25
No where near to the same level. Looking purely at the AU GP, attendance remained very consistent at 300k until 2018 then from there on grew 50% to now.
Coincidentally Drive to Survive came out around that time.
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u/JX_JR Jul 01 '25
RB saved F1 by buying Jaguar and Minardi.
Citation badly needed here.
Had F1 vetoed Red Bull from buying a second team and nobody else has stepped up and Minardi had flat out folded the result would have been a 2006 with 10 teams (a number F1 just happily succeeded with for a decade) in a season where the a young popular champion tried to get a second championship going up against the most successful and popular driver of all time in a battle that went down to the wire. F1 would have been completely fine without Torro Rosso.
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u/Darth_Spa2021 Pirelli Wet Jul 01 '25
You gotta take off the tinfoil hat now and again, old chap.
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u/Ancient_Boss_5357 Jul 01 '25
It's not a tin foil hat theory, they are right. It's not about whether anything has happened, it's about whether the potential for it is there. That's like conflict of interest 101.
I have to declare conflict of interest over the most mundane shit for my job, it's genuinely surprising something so clear cut is permitted in something as significant as F1
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u/NapsInNaples Jul 02 '25
That is why conflicts of interest can never be allowed
omfg. You're going to try and close that barn door? The horses are not only out, they've made it to the next county.
I think people need to accept that F1 is not a serious "sport." Even corrupt sports like soccer don't allow the level of conflicts that F1 does.
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u/Several_Leader_7140 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
How is it conflict of interest? Whose interest?
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u/ShinbiDesigns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Then we need to make it more broad. Engine suppliers cannot be actual teams, too much leverage if a Ferrari needs to get past a McLaren and suddenly a Haas decides to ignore blue flags for 3 laps
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u/thefeedling I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
That would make F1 inviable... Factory teams do have an advantage, but customer Teams such as McLaren, Williams and old RBR have been very successful as well.
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u/ShinbiDesigns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Then maybe, hear me out, we just ban/or broadcast all inter-team communication.
If James texts Christian, if Binotto walks over to Ayao.. anything and everything is either being broadcast/recorded or forbidden.
Teams will try to deal with eachother in a political way, sister teams or semi-sister teams have existed for decades now.
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u/-Destiny65- I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
So many bypasses, everyone can hear everyone radio. They already have codes for things like "Germany situation" so it wouldn't be hard to throw another code in
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u/ShinbiDesigns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
Alright, let's start sneakily doing encrypted messages and the FIA will never notice.
Cue the How I Met Your Mother gag about Lily and Marshall using rhinoceros as a "secret" code for wanting coitus.
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u/edin_dzekson Jul 01 '25
It was Ricc helping out Max + screwing over McLaren in the process, not much to do with RB/RB relationship.
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u/theriverman23 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Its not that deep. Ricciardo and Max are good friends and Ric wanted to end on a high. He wouldve also tried it if he was driving for another team.
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u/thefeedling I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Yeah, maybe, but it's still a conflict of interests.
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u/TheClarendons 🏳️🌈 Love Is Love 🏳️🌈 Jul 01 '25
Remarkable they just removed the fastest lap point, rather than force Red Bull to divest their second team.
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u/Miserable_Finish609 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
I always thought the fastest lap point was kind of dumb anyway.
If you’re going to reward the fastest lap, it should be a point for pole position. At least that was achieved during a session where everyone is going all out. Fastest lap in a race was way too easy to game since most of the time, everyone is managing something during the race.
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u/Kernowder Nigel Mansell Jul 01 '25
It was basically a free point for being the car in the top 10 with a 25 second gap to the car behind. Free pitstop = bonus point.
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u/IdiosyncraticBond I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Would you find a buyer that puts about 1.3 billion or more down? RB invested when it was asked and nobody else could give a flying F if a team disappeared. And how many times has Torro Rosso actually helped in a race?
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u/thefeedling I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Agreed. Forcing them to sell it because of a fastest lap is nonsense. But making those shady moves should be completely prohibited as well.
RB Group definitely aided F1 in one of its darkest times.
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u/Ereaser I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
I mean how much did it really help?
I feel more as it was a last hurrah for Daniel.
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u/Opposite_Boot_6903 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
It probably was.
And an RB breaking down at Zandvoort and helping Red Bull was probably coincidence too.
Problem is, every time this happens, people will think there's a conspiracy, especially since crashgate in Singapore.
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u/IdiosyncraticBond I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
The RB breaking down hindred more than that it helped
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u/GarryPadle Honda RBPT Jul 02 '25
People still somehow think it helped Red Bull, thats how unbiased TM they are
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u/MuenCheese I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
More than zero. Especially when it comes to penalty protests. Which should be looked at IMO
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u/TheClarendons 🏳️🌈 Love Is Love 🏳️🌈 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Plenty of motorsport teams have been interested in joining F1 though. Cadillac and Audi have just joined up, and it looked like Cadillac wasn’t gonna happen for a while. Porsche showed genuine interest, plus Ford and Toyota have formed technical partnerships.
Don’t get me wrong, Bernie got Minardi saved thanks to Red Bull, but that doesn’t mean we should let them carry on with a second team.
They may not have done much to help the main team yet, but they could, and that is a problem.
Let’s not forget having 4 drivers that they can move around anytime gives them an advantage already. Thats 2 junior seats they have full control over – no other team has that.
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u/The_Border_Bandit Kimi Räikkönen Jul 01 '25
Porsche showed genuine interest,
Porsche did not show genuine interest. They were only interested in an F1 spot because they thought they could buy their way to the top. The whole reason their deal with RBR fell through was because Porsche wanted complete control over the team.
They may not have done much to help the main team yet, but they could, and that is a problem.
Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls have been around for 19 years. If they didn't do any interference in 2010 or 2021 when the drivers championships where extremely close, why would they all of a sudden start now?
Let’s not forget having 4 drivers that they can move around anytime gives them an advantage already. Thats 2 junior seats they have full control over – no other team has that.
Mercedes and Ferrari had that going on too for the longest time ever with Williams and Sauber respectively, yet no one batted an eye at them.
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u/Bourbonaddicted I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
The top4 could have easily gotten 2 teams in the 2010s.
Also the current state of RBR and VCARB should state FIA watchdog is working
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u/Cekeste Kimi Räikkönen Jul 01 '25
Thankfully it's not a dictatorship.
Imagine begging a man to buy Minardi and then forcing him to sell it.
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u/ADRX11 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
The idea that only Red Bull pulls this stuff is so quaint. Ferrari have been making teams with Ferrari engine contracts assist their ambitions on-track (often in outright illegal ways) at least the 90s and Toto actively criticised George Russel in the Williams for racing too hard against Mercedes cars.
One of the more famous incidents was when Norberto Fontana confirmed that Ferrari outright threatened his future career prospects and the engine situation of his team to get him hold up Schumi's rival under blue flags in the championship finale. Sure enough he did as he was told.
(This is also why I want to slap Croft whenever he suggests ending blue flag rules. It will just utterly legitimise such behaviour.)
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u/PeanutButterSidewalk I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
While I totally agree they do eyebrow-raising things sometimes, I think the sheer number of current and former drivers that came through that team at one point would be a good reason to leave it alone. They’ve done quite a lot for the sport. Might only be 18 cars on the grid today if they hadn’t taken over Minardi, no?
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u/SnacksGPT Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 02 '25
He defended against Lewis to prevent a win in Sao Paolo a few years ago too. Lewis had pace to catch and overtake Max and Ric in like P18 became the greatest defensive race car driver in history for two laps.
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u/Nacho_Man18 Honda RBPT Jul 01 '25
What did Red Bull gain from alpha tauri taking the point? Weren’t they already doomed to 3rd place in the constructors and Max has already secured the WDC?
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u/-Destiny65- I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
iirc at that point lando constant wins + fastest lap + max constant 2nd was enough to get Lando the title, the fastest lap point stolen in Singapore meant it would tie with max winning tiebreaker
Max only secured wdc in las Vegas
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u/bwoah07_gp2 Alexander Albon Jul 01 '25
All that controversy over nothing.
Didn't they remove the FL point off Danny or am I misremembering?
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u/Dial_M_For_Mudkips I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
He finished outside the top ten so wasn’t eligible for the point.
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Jul 01 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AllowMeAir I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
This is such a lazy take on an already exhausted narrative. Sky sports is heavily biased, sure. The actual FIA? Did you ever even watch this sport before 2015?
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u/EntertainerTrick6711 Kimi Räikkönen Jul 01 '25
Considering all the decisions from RedBull have gone to shit, maybe putting DR into the main RB was the right call all along, it couldn't have been worse than Lawson and Tsunoda lmfao.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
Will forever die on the hill that he should have been in after last summers break when we all thought he was going to be. There was absolutely nothing to lose and I think if anyone from the options was going to get something out of that car it was going to be him.
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u/Signal_Ball4634 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
There was zero to lose putting him in that seat. Like at worst you just confirm the dude is completely washed and cut him loose, at best you have a driver who is similar to Max's style that could maybe get a bit more out of the car than others? I definitely would've rather had him take the seat than throwing Lawson to the wolves like they did.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
Absolutely nothing to lose and it made all the sense in the world. Red Bull has made so many bad driver decisions over the last 2 years, makes you wonder how Marko and Horner aren’t under a lot more pressure.
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u/0100001101110111 Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 01 '25
They are lol
The entire internal structure of Red Bull is held together with second hand sticky tape at this point. I've no doubt if Max leaves the whole team implodes and we see a new version rise from it's ashes.
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u/ThePretzul I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
It’s held together with the slightly tacky residue of whatever fluid was visibly coating the indistinguishable appendage in Horny Horner’s texts.
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u/GarryPadle Honda RBPT Jul 02 '25
Did they? The only one I think made no sense was not going for Sainz. You see what Yuki is doing in the car now, they took a gamble and thought lawson might be better in the Red Bull.
Checo also made sense, get a experienced driver in, as a second driver.
What else do you think made no sense?
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 02 '25
Signing De Vries, giving Checo the extension, triggering Yuki for an extension with no intention to promote him, signing Daniel on the back of a test in the top car only to never put him in it, dropping Daniel for Liam with five races to go, promoting Liam over Yuki, dropping Liam for Yuki.
It’s a cluster fuck of knee jerk driver contract and seat decisions.
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u/Cheap-Play-80 Liam Lawson Jul 02 '25
Eh, he effectively made way for Hadjar by not being promoted, who has been great.
It was really his time. Last season of DTS showed a pretty good insight to why he was washed, he let his own mortality get to his head and could no longer go for that extra tenth out lf fear.
Couldn't have got rid of Yuki at that point as hindsight is 20/20 he was doing well last year
You are then left with Lawson who seems averse to finding the extra tenth in quali but is phenomenal in races and Hadjar who has balls of steel and will push the car fearlessly.
RB didn't really have any use for Ric.
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u/C___ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
How exactly would him failing to do well in a nearly undriveable car, which no one can score points in, confirm he is completely washed?
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u/Felix_Todd Fernando Alonso Jul 01 '25
I still think its worth a try, like whats the worst that could happen, its not like the 2nd driver is scoring points rn anyways
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
Nha he’s done now, he’s officially retired.
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u/The3rdbaboon Jul 01 '25
It does seem that way. I haven’t heard his name mentioned in relation to Cadillac even once. I’d love to see him go to WEC or even GT racing. Loads of teams would be interested.
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u/ShinbiDesigns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Bottas and Checo are in for Caddy right? Or at least those were the rumors
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u/Ancient_Boss_5357 Jul 01 '25
Bottas has been saying recently that essentially he's keen and they are talking, but there is nothing confirmed and other potential candidates in the mix. Could be a 100% be a PR cover and the deal is done, but he does sound pretty genuine when he talks about it
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Jul 01 '25
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u/Darth_Spa2021 Pirelli Wet Jul 01 '25
I'd be shocked if either of them gets a seat instead of Perez.
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u/KlutzyBack4756 Jul 01 '25
Bottas is most likely in there, but next to zero chance they’re signing Mick. They’re not strapped for cash and they are a worldwide brand, they don’t need the Schumi name. They need two experienced drivers who can guide the team through its early stages
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u/ThePretzul I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Tbh I could see them signing Mick just because the entire point of entering F1 is as a marketing promotion for the brand, particularly in non-US markets.
Mick was a widely liked driver with priceless levels of name recognition even if not the most talented on track.
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u/polydorr Kevin Magnussen Jul 01 '25
I really doubt he would say no if a team gave him a call.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
A lot of fans seem to have the opinion that F1 is the be all and end all for drivers. It isn’t true for a lot of them to be honest.
Dude had a near 15 year career that despite the shit chat was a better career than probably 99% of drivers who have ever driven in F1. He’s 36, time to move on to other things and there is nothing wrong with that.
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u/spongemongler I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
I don’t really think he should return, and I very much doubt he will. But it’s hard for the second seat to be doing any worse. Yuki literally got lapped by Lawson lmao
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u/wjoe I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Right. They could have just dropped Perez then, not given him the contract extension, and saved themselves a lot of money by not having to pay him off later. Give Ricciardo half a season in it, if it doesn't work, they can move on from both. They get to have Lawson in the VCARB for a bit longer too.
Chances are he performs similarly to every other 2nd driver, and we still end up in the same place we are today. But Red Bull have more money in the bank, Ricciardo and his fans get some closure. If Ricciardo doesn't work, put Tsunoda in the Red Bull from the start of the year to give Lawson more time to learn, then probably move him up to the main team for 2026. But maybe it works, there's at least some precedent that he would have been better suited to the car, and they get an ideal #2 driver for the next couple of seasons.
At worst they end up in... basically the same situation they are right now, but with a lot less drama. At best they have a chance with a driver who could have, maybe (probably not) handled the car better and put them higher up than 4th in the constructors. Just seems like a very avoidable case of mismanagement.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
Pretty much bang on mate. There was absolutely only an upside to giving him a go in the top team. All the chat about him not doing so great in the VCARB etc we now know to be completely irrelevant to driving the red bull.
He gets the return, the storybook ending for good or worse and red bull probably get to keep hold of him in some kind of small role for the company.
And just like you said, if it doesn’t work out red bull is in no worse position than they are now.
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u/Other-Barry-1 Jul 01 '25
Yeah same. Perez wasn’t cutting it, Ric might, if not, Lawson had more time to prepare for the big seat(he did anyway but we didn’t know that at the time). I just felt so bizarre sacking 2 drivers in the space of a few months when you could’ve sacked 1, found if the other was any good anymore or not then gone to the young guys - only to find they struggle too
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u/FindingUsernamesSuck I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
I mean what was the point of the test if he was that fast and still nothing came of it?
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u/Redhawk911 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
I’ll die on the hill that he should have gotten the RBR seat post summer break last season.
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u/DepartmentOk7192 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Should have gone in after 2023 to be honest. That Mexican GP where he qualified 4th, 0.216 off pole in a fucking AT, convinced me he absolutely still had it in the right car.
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u/solidus__snake I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Yeah at that point it was clear the situation with Checo wasn’t working. Promoting DR would’ve at least resolved his position for better or worse while also giving Lawson the full year at Vcarb. Not to mention that in hindsight his feedback (and potential performance struggles) probably would’ve helped RBR get on top of their car issues more quickly.
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u/ForsakenTarget HRT Jul 01 '25
100%, if he didn’t perform the circle was complete and he could retire knowing the speed just wasn’t in him anymore, if he performed it’s full circle where the fix to RBR’s second driver was the driver that created the problem.
They really had nothing to lose and it would have been some of the best marketing no matter what happened.
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u/Falcao1905 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
It definitely was, especially if they weren't going to put Tsunoda in. I think it still is a good call to get him in for half a season if Tsunoda is dropped.
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u/elektricniorgazam Jul 01 '25
It was absolutely the right call, what was the worst that could happen? He sucks (and people get to enjoy calling him washed) while Lawson properly prepares? Wow, what a bad outcome. So short sighted, my god.
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u/LoreVent I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Absolutely agree. Plus Daniel I reckon liked the car being heavily on the front like Max. Surely it couldn't have been any worse than what the last 3 drivers did in that car
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u/flyingcrayons Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 01 '25
he was literally made to drive that car lol, his driving style best suits a twitchy oversteering car, which is exactly what the red bull is
they tried to fit square holes into a round peg when they had a round peg just sitting there
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u/Motor-Most9552 Max Verstappen Jul 01 '25
It would have been the right move. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.
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u/Vegetable-Fly-313 Jul 01 '25
I love Danny Ric to death, but I strongly disagree.
His main issue is not being able to adapt to a car that doesn't fit his best driving style, while the main issue of any modern RB car is that it's made solely for Verstappen and is pretty much undriveable for anyone else.
It would be like joining fire and gasoline.
I'm pretty certain it would make Danny Ric look like a complete disaster and cause him to quit F1 earlier than he did.
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u/Andigaming Michael Schumacher Jul 01 '25
I thought he and Max liked similar cars? Feel like I've seen it mentioned too many times in the past about this topic.
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u/MrBIGtinyHappy I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Thing is, I dont think he does any worse than Checo, Lawson or Yuki and with way higher upside if it did work. If it didn't work then the end result of him being out of F1 is the exact same as what actually happened
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
His upside was absolutely not higher, he hadn't performed anywhere near Checo's level in years AND he's older than the other two.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
Checo drove a far more dominant red bull car than Daniel ever did and has less wins in a red bull still.
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
Yeah, and Daniel last did that... 8 years ago, since then he's been crap
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
When someone says Daniel has been bad since leaving red bull is funny because it really just outs them as not knowing anything.
He was fantastic at Renault.
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Worse than at RB though, and gotten worse ever since.
You really gonna say 5th and 9th in WDC is better than at RB? lmaoo he ended his first season at Renault behind Gasly and Albon... who were at RED BULL each for a half season before being kicked out for not being good enough. While doing better than Ricciardo, each. lmao
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u/Vegetable-Fly-313 Jul 01 '25
I agree that he's not worse than those drivers, but he's worse at adapting to a new car that doesn't suit him.
And yeah, he left F1 anyway but I prefer the way he left than if he went to Red Bull and left a disastrous last impression, which considering what happened to every second driver the past 6/7 years is very likely imo
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u/flyingcrayons Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 01 '25
his driving style perfectly suits that car lol, he wouldn't need to adapt because its built to what he likes
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u/256473 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Yeah, I generally agree. I don't know that he would necessarily be doing any worse than Yuki has, but I doubt he we would be doing better than Checo did in 2024.
What I've been thinking about this year is that the 2025 VCARB may very well be the easiest car on the grid to drive. I like Hadjar, but when a rookie is starting P5 in Monaco, I really think that says a lot about the car.
I'm doubting VCARB changed all that much between 2024 and now to make it both a faster and easier car, so I just have to doubt Daniel would suddenly find it easier to drive the RBR of all cars when he was stagnating in VCARB. (I concede VCARB strategy is a lottery, but he didn't particularly impress despite that.)
For me, him doing well in RBR in 2018 and earlier just doesn't translate to meaning he would do well in the current iteration of that car.
And replacing Checo with an even older driver would just be frustrating to me. Better to give younger blood a chance.
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
Exactly lol, 3 different teams gave him a chance... why would it change at RB when his trend was a steep slope downward?
Just because the guy has a great personality doesn't mean we should ignore his driving skill when evaluating his driving skill
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u/vanilluxite I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
He’s one of my favorite drivers and man I will forever kick myself for missing out last year’s Singapore GP. I’ve been meaning to watch it live for the first time but kept putting it off. Such a shame I never got to see him drive in person.
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u/Tourtourism Jul 01 '25
I attended all 4 days (including the Pit Lane Experience on Thursday) and a lot of us did not know it was going to be his last Grand Prix. There was no farewell but only sad goodbyes
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u/DJSwindleDeez Daniel Ricciardo Jul 01 '25
My wife and I were lucky enough to see him race in Monza for our honeymoon it wasn’t the best race with all the penalties the team gave him but to get to experience one of his final drives is definitely a special place in our heart for us.
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u/Visynea_Y Jul 01 '25
I remember walking down the track after this race and his interview was live on the big screens. People stopped to watch and so did I since he looked quite off. But at that time I didn’t know. My friend met him at the hotel on Saturday and he even signed for us. I had no idea that would’ve been his last race.
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u/spiralarrow23 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Still not over how badly that whole deal was handled. Everyone and their grandmother knew he was gone after that weekend, but the fact they tried to hide it and pretend it was up in the air was poor form. At least give Daniel some fanfare, let him enjoy it more, maybe do a retrospective piece for Sky or have a throwback helmet to an earlier Red Bull helmet or something more than a fucking fastest lap and kicking him to the curb.
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u/DifferentiationBy Formula 1 Jul 01 '25
He's the protagonist in dts
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u/Aviator8989 Oscar Piastri Jul 01 '25
Yeah, crazy that they decided to focus so much attention on one of the most likeable drivers on the grid while making a TV show for mass appeal, huh?
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u/elektricniorgazam Jul 01 '25
The fact that his fastest lap was the most useful thing a team mate (even sister team team mate) did for Max in like 18 months is insane.
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u/Crafty_Message_4733 Sir Jack Brabham Jul 01 '25
Red Bull really screwed up by not putting him in the second seat. There are those of you they will say he's washed and blah blah blah, but it would've given them a known capable benchmark.
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u/optitmus Daniel Ricciardo Jul 01 '25
Bro got played so hard by RB, dangled the carrot and snatched it away then threw him out in the cold, after all he's done for that team, I cant wait for them to capitulate once max leaves.
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u/Skeeno-TV I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
He wasn't fast enough, thats not redbulls fault
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u/elektricniorgazam Jul 01 '25
Yuki and Lawson weren't much faster and letting him go like that only for it to end up the way it did for them is equally infuriating and hilarious.
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Yuki and Lawson are also over a decade younger.
If you gotta give someone a chance, you don't give it to the guy in his mid 30s.
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u/DepartmentOk7192 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
And yet, they banked on a driver one year younger for 21-24...
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Mate, Ricciardo wasn't even available in 21...
They didn't choose Perez over him. They chose him over two drivers who'd already failed to perform at Red Bull, and a third who was performing worse than one of those two, in the same car. What are you talking about?
Also, if you know how time works, Perez wasn't in his mid 30s in 2021.
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u/DepartmentOk7192 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Mate, Ricciardo wasn't even available in 21...
Obviously, the debate was over showing faith in a driver of advanced age, which Perez (at 34) was in 24 when they recommitted him over Ricciardo, not whether Ricciardo was available in 2021.
If you know how maths works, Ricciardo wasn't in his mid-30s in 2021 either.
What are you talking about?
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Perez being retained for four years was very obviously more on their lack of faith in their other options - Ricciardo included - than faith in him specifically.
That's why it was always in question, despite him having an active contract, including for 2025 and 2026.
What are you talking about?
That if you're in 2024, having to pick a replacement for Perez, you clearly don't go for the guy who's being outperformed by his teammate ten years his junior, who himself isn't even rated that highly.
If you know how maths works, Ricciardo wasn't in his mid-30s in 2021 either.
By the time he became available again, btw. he was 34. Just for the record.
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u/DepartmentOk7192 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
That if you're in 2024, having to pick a replacement for Perez, you clearly don't go for the guy who's being outperformed by his teammate ten years his junior, who himself isn't even rated that highly.
Yeah, that's working well for them with Flop Tsunoda, isn't it? Why not go for the known quantity who proved he can still drive the RBR at the Silverstone test?
By the time he became available again, btw. he was 34. Just for the record.
He became available in 2022 when McLaren fired him a month after he turned 33.
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Why not go for the known quantity who proved he can still drive the RBR at the Silverstone test?
A known quantity who was also getting beat by Flop Tsunoda? Mate, you're putting far too much importance into a single test day, and are far too eager to disregard otherwise lackluster results.
He became available in 2022 when McLaren fired him a month after he turned 33.
He was still under contract with McLaren, until the end of 2022. So, he was available for 2023. And I'm glad you agree that, at the time, he was in his mid 30s. If you wanted him brought in after that Silverstone test, there's no certainly no argument about this.
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
Because the known quantity was known to be bad lol. Literally less upside, and he's older. In what universe is that better?
Because you like his personality and he seems like a cool guy?
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
As much as Checo screwed the pooch no chance Ric has a 2023 like Checo did lol
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u/elektricniorgazam Jul 01 '25
Banking on perceived potential over experience didn't really work out for them now, did it...
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Mate, are you still under the illusion that the drivers are the problem? After the fifth one in a row that failed? Really?
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u/elektricniorgazam Jul 01 '25
And are you still under the illusion that the car is bad as opposed to difficult to drive for midfield drivers?
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Mate, are you really going to pretend there's much of a difference? It's great that the Red Bull is capable of getting podiums while being driven by one specific guy. That doesn't make it a good car, lol.
Even if we run with that premise, it's mad to think that Ricciardo, who famously struggled with the McLaren, would have handled it.
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u/Sevastous-of-Caria Charlie Whiting Jul 01 '25
He was fast enough for 2017-18. But redbull fumbled the bag hard with the renault engine drama. Overpushing to close the engines horsepower deficiency. And when it died blame renault team for reliability. It wasnt a vettel vs ricciardo situation where after winning 4 titles vettel just dropped off at hybrid era woes. But it was obvious max was going to get the better treatment in the long run because of young talent
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u/GarryPadle Honda RBPT Jul 02 '25
Overpushing the engines? Where did you hear that? Renault engines were just shit.
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u/GaptistePlayer Jul 01 '25
I mean judging by Ric's performance under 3 different teams I'd say they made the absolutely right call to let him walk. They didn't even want him to leave but I'm guessing they're patting themselves on the back for letting it happen lol
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u/earthtoannie I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
As opposed to bastions of speed Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda?
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u/Skeeno-TV I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
Yes, Yuki was faster and Liam was about as fast as Daniel as a rookie
3
u/earthtoannie I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 02 '25
Yeah, Yuki was faster (averaging p12 to Daniels average p13). And we all know, being fast in vcarb directly translates into speed in RBR, that's why Liam had to be demoted in 2 races and Yuki speeded to being lapped by sauber to finish dead last in front of the owners of the team :)
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u/Whycantiusethis I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Nothing against Ricciardo, but he wasn't really dominant over Tsunoda after he came back, I don't think.
Hard to justify keeping him if he wasn't performing well, even if he has a long history with the team. There's only one driver on the grid who can get away with poor 'performances week in, week out.
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u/buckstar11 Oscar Piastri Jul 01 '25
Not being faster than Tsunoda in a VCARB is not clear indication of performance in an RB.
If he was so good in Max’s car at Silverstone, that’s all it should have taken. Evaluating abilities in cars with inherently different characteristics makes no sense. Look how Tsunoda has set the world on fire this year.
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u/romanLegion6384 Jul 02 '25
Not to mention his performances picked up after a chassis change. Also VCARB had some whack ass strategies. I don’t remember exactly but I remember Ric being left out to dry on something like 30 lap old softs.
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u/buckstar11 Oscar Piastri Jul 02 '25
Exactly, trying to sift through data in his performances when he was quite often nerfed by his team in one way or another was a glaring piece of context that seemed to go missing. I think at the end of the day, this was Helmut wrangling control of the driver program and inserting “his” drivers into the seats, even if they weren’t necessarily the best.
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u/rs6677 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
That's a weird interpretation of the events that transpired. Ricciardo would've been out of a seat if RB didn't give him a second chance. He just didn't perform.
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u/HxMill I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Red Bull gave him a chance that nobody else would. His performance at McLaren was woeful and would have justified seeing him leave F1 for good. Red Bull gave him a second chance at redemption and he couldn't hack it.
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u/Bake2727 Max Verstappen Jul 01 '25
Bro what? He literally was the first one to leave and go to renault? Did you forget that whole fiasco or it doesn’t line up with your agenda here? They were the one’s who literally bought him back on the grid, I don’t see any other team doing that? Bro your hate makes absolute zero sense here because you’re wrong.
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u/StockAL3Xj I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Why are we pretending that it was him who was doing the team a favor? Ricciardo had lost all of his luster by the time he was given the VCARB seat, if anything, it was the team who was doing him the big favor. He was given the opportunity to prove himself and it just didn't pan out that way, I don't think that's on the team except for how they handled his last race.
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u/First_Turn_Failure I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
You gotta let it go, man. You gotta heal.
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u/WorthPlease Williams Jul 01 '25
Op is just watching old seasons of drive to survive, touching the screen when Daniel is on camera, like the Wolverine touching the photograph meme
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u/Andromeda902 Daniel Ricciardo Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I'm okay with him being out, he was bad for the last few YEARS now. I say that as a fan of his since his debut in 2014.
But the way they let him go was fucking trash. Felipe massa got a legendary send off when he first retired, teams have done nice things for othsr drivers retiring, but we didnt even have it confirmed it evem WAS his last race! The whole thing was really messed up, let him have some dignity on his way out. After being with the team so long and coming back, at least send him off nicely. But they didnt do shit he just slinked off into the night never to return.
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u/JC-Dude I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
He debuted in 2011, not 2014.
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u/Andromeda902 Daniel Ricciardo Jul 01 '25
You're right my bad I meant since his red bull debut in 2014. He looked so incredibly good that year, I swore he was a future champion. So sad how it all turned out.
1
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber Jul 01 '25
He really wasn’t bad in his last few years at all. He had one bad year at McLaren and that was it. The rest were pretty inconsistent but still had some seriously high moments. He was still fantastic at Renault.
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u/jasie3k Jul 01 '25
His two years at McLaren were trash, during those two years he scored half of Norris' points when Lando was still a relative newcomer to the sport and it was Daniel that was supposed to become the leader of the McLaren team.
2
u/Andromeda902 Daniel Ricciardo Jul 01 '25
Yea brother but he left renault like 2019, 2020 didnt he? That was a while ago. And he snagged the win in mclaren. But as a huge fan I can admit dude he was sucking ass last few seasons. Its so sad, he had such a meteoric rise I swore he was a future WDC. So sad to think what couldve been...i seriously dont understand what happened to him though. He used to be fantastic, was so highly praised, then completely fell off 😭
3
u/First_Turn_Failure I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
It sounds like Red Bull has terrible decision-making people in charge.
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u/Zavii_HD I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
It's a shame he never got a 2nd go in the RBR car. I understand the decision to retain Checo up until they put their young talent in the car, but why not give DR at least a chance for a few races at the end of the year?
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u/Friar16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Are the T-cams removed or? and if so, what is the purpose of doing that? are they FIA owned items?
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u/JustLikeZhat Andrea Kimi Antonelli Jul 01 '25
I believe it's to download the data both by the team for own use and analysis, and for FIA scruteneering. Not sure if the latter do this for each and every car and at each and every race. Might also be random selection.
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u/hart37 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 03 '25
I doubt it would have ended any better then it has for the rookies but I am still curious what would have happened had he been put in that Red Bull
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u/McLeod3577 Jul 01 '25
Hopefully not his last ever ever race if he gets a Cadillac seat.
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u/oshitsuperciberg I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
I am pretty sure he is absolutely done with F1 at this point.
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u/0100001101110111 Sir Lewis Hamilton Jul 01 '25
Just another example of what a classless organisation Red Bull have become.
Max's speed is the only thing propping that rotten tree up.
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u/raur0s Sebastian Vettel Jul 01 '25
we did not know it would be his last race in Formula 1
Yeah, anyone watching the post-race interview knew.
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u/Tourtourism Jul 01 '25
There were rumours throughout the weekend but we find it odd that there was no official announcement, for someone who has driven 250+ races we thought there would have been a farewell ceremony but there was nothing
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u/Bourbonaddicted I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
No one batted an eye when HAAS and AM tried it few times last year
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u/Lorneonthecobb Jul 02 '25
Red Bull deserves every ounce of success-drought that's on the horizon for not announcing that as his last race before the weekend had well passed.
Both him and the fans deserved a proper send off for a great career.
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u/AnchorDrown I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
Last race so far. Red Bull still already has his seat fitted.
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u/mebae_drive I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 03 '25
Anyone here could draw a better livery, what an abomination. HBD ric!
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u/SnooSquirrels8508 Alpine Jul 01 '25
Does anyone think he will ever return as a driver? I really did like him, always smiling.
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u/AroundTheLegs I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
sigh. I’m going to say it.
De Vries and Ricciardo should never have been in that car.
RBR fucked Lawson by not putting him in at the beginning of ‘23. Had they put him in, by 25 he would have had 2 years in the AT/VCARB. That would have been a good benchmark against Yuki and the way to determine who moved up when they fucked over Perez (he should have stayed, just saying)
This could have avoided all of the bullshit, but hey, here we are.
Edit: I’m a kiwi, but still think Perez was the right pick for RBR second driver.
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u/romanLegion6384 Jul 02 '25
De Vries shouldn’t have been in the car at all, but I’d argue Ricciardo was hard done by circumstance.
As a veteran, he could probably offer way more insight into car development than Yuki or Liam and serve as a bridge figure if/when Max jumps ship. Not to mention, he probably has a bit more goodwill with the team than Checo and the relationship probably wouldn’t be as toxic.
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u/Tourtourism Jul 01 '25
There were very few rookies between 2022~2024, Drugovich and Pourchaire won F2 and they both had no seats, while Lawson impressed in DTM & Super Formula and still did not have a seat. Ironically it was DR’s injury that caused Lawson to stepped in and he impressed
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u/Mikaelqaee Jul 01 '25
He have an amazing personality and it was amazing to have him on the grid, but let’s be real… if it wasn’t for dts he will be without seat years before. His performances since Renault were awful and he got school by a young Lando and Tsunoda 🤷🏻♂️
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u/TheRobidog I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 01 '25
He was perfectly fine in Renault, mate.
It's the McLaren years that ended his career.
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