The untold motives, and power struggle, behind Ricciardo’s F1 exit
Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career is over. There was no celebration, no fanfare, just an emotional acknowledgement in Singapore of what we all knew was coming but dared not say. These are the forces at play behind his axing.
Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career is over.
After more than 250 grands prix, and eight wins, the Australian has exited the pinnacle of world motorsport. There was no celebration, no fanfare, just an emotional acknowledgement in Singapore of what we all knew was coming but dared not say.
The Singapore Grand Prix weekend was a curious one.
Red Bull worked hard to stage-manage the situation surrounding Ricciardo, shielding him from all but the mandatory media sessions as hungry journalists pushed for the story.
Ricciardo had been on the ropes for some time.
He had a rough start to the year and speculation back then suggested he’d be ousted by the Miami Grand Prix in May. That didn’t happen, but it highlighted the disconnect between expectation and delivery from the veteran racer.
But his axing post-Singapore seems harsh. That there was no goodbye felt like an insult, diminishing his achievements – including his seven wins for Red Bull between 2014 and 2018.
So, how did Ricciardo fall from F1 grace?
To say Ricciardo’s performances weren’t good enough is a drastic oversimplification. While there is an element of truth in it, the full story is far more insidious.
Since the death of Red Bull patriarch Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, a turf war has been ongoing within the halls of the brand’s F1 operation between Helmut Marko, the brand’s motorsport advisor, and Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner.
Marko is responsible for the development of young drivers.
The 81-year-old is a former racer himself, a Le Mans winner who lost an eye when a stone pierced his visor in the 1972 French Grand Prix.
With his racing career over he turned his attention to driver management. In the decades since he’s hired and fired countless aspiring racers, and turned a handful into F1 winners, Ricciardo among them.
Horner is also an ex-racer who campaigned against Craig Lowndes in F3000 in the 1990s. He’s spearheaded Red Bull Racing since it entered F1 in 2005 and transformed what was once the underperforming Jaguar team into the multiple world championship-winning behemoth it is today.
Where once Marko and Horner had Mateschitz as the overriding power figure, tensions within the squad have risen since his death. The saga surrounding Ricciardo and Liam Lawson is evidence of this.
When Nyck de Vries was cut from the roster following the 2023 British Grand Prix, an opening was created at AlphaTauri (since rebranded RB), Red Bull’s second F1 organisation. While the seat went to Ricciardo, sources have claimed it was initially promised to Lawson, who had Marko’s backing.
The story goes that Ricciardo, a Horner favourite, did enough during a Pirelli tyre test in the days that followed the British Grand Prix to justify a return.
It was a story that promised a fairytale finale to the Australian’s career; a homecoming of sorts for Ricciardo who left the Red Bull family only to fall on hard times during his two-year stint with McLaren.
Since his return, there have been flashes of brilliance - Mexico City last year and the Miami Sprint this year - but they’ve been few a far between.
His performance otherwise has been okay, enough to justify his position but not enough to stave off questions about whether he’s doing enough.
His axing is, therefore, equally understandable, predictable, and shockingly harsh.
But it seems he was fortunate to have had the opportunity at all, having usurped Lawson for the drive.
Red Bull’s second F1 squad is a curious one. It has changed its image this year, citing the need for it to be self-sustaining and not simply a development organisation relying on Red Bull handouts for its existence.
Hence Ricciardo made some sense, as the veteran added the sort of experience it had never had.
That had value, though the on-track stuff was paramount.
There’s more. Red Bull has a pressing need to action a longer-term vision for its drivers.
At 35, Ricciardo’s future in F1 was limited regardless.
The same is also true for Sergio Perez, who is under pressure to lift his game alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing. Perez is 34 and has a contract for 2025. However, he is believed to be in breach of that already, having not scored enough points by the mid-season break this year.
The problem Red Bull currently faces is potentially needing to replace Perez but without a suitable option - Ricciardo has already been discounted.
That is why Lawson has been promoted now and why his confirmation noted only the remainder of 2024. It’s understood he holds a race contract for 2025, but by not announcing with which of Red Bull’s teams he will drive, it leaves open the opportunity for him to replace Perez in the senior team.
That in turn opens the way for Formula 2 racer Isack Hadjar alongside Tsunoda next season. Everything going to plan, the Japanese driver will then be replaced by (most likely) Arvid Lindblad for 2026.
But that succession plan only works if Red Bull acted before the end of the season.
It would be reckless to dump Perez and promote Lawson straight into the senior team, but it now has an opportunity to assess him.
What does all this have to do with Ricciardo being cast aside without the hero send-off he arguably deserved?
The suggestion multiple sources have offered this writer are twofold; first is contractual clauses surrounding the acknowledgement of early termination.
If Ricciardo held a valid contract through to the end of the year, that detail needed to be managed appropriately without affording legal leverage to either party.
The second is commercial.
Ricciardo is big business in the United States, and RB title sponsor Visa was believed to be keen to have the Australian represent it when F1 touches down in Texas for its next event.
As that was worked through, it would have been foolish to celebrate a departure that then got delayed.
Instead, he said goodbye without ever really saying it, a victim of politics as much as performance.
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It’s a sad and underwhelming end to what was a superb career, one most drivers who reach F1 could only hope for.
It may have not panned out quite the way he’d have hoped, but Ricciardo can stand proud of his record, and smile widely in the knowledge he has inspired the next generation of Australian racers.
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