Daniel Ricciardo has been away from Formula 1 for some time now – and the Australian revealed the reason why he was grateful that Red Bull replaced him with Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls.
Read more F1: Mercedes admits error that hampered Russell in Japan
In the 2023 season, the competitor was left without a seat in the category, but in the middle of the championship, he ended up taking the place of the dismissed Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.
In 2024, after the transformation to Racing Bulls, it was the Australian’s turn to be dismissed in the middle of the campaign, saying goodbye at the Singapore GP. Lawson took his seat and remains with the team to this day.
Today, Daniel is a Ford Racing ambassador and in an interview with the Drive podcast, he discussed the end of his F1 career. “[McLaren] let me go [in 2022]. So, in 2023, I started without a seat and thought: ‘Is this it? Should I give up now?’ But I knew there was still a burning desire inside me,” he said.
Read more F1: Is there a race this weekend? Find out when the 2026 Miami GP is
“And that’s when I really needed to look in the mirror and think: ‘OK, forget what people say and what they want, what do you want?’ So, I got back in the car mid-season. I got a seat, in the second or third race, I broke my hand, and it was such a banal accident, but I missed a few races,” he continued.
“So that happened, and I thought: ‘Well, I’ve never really been hurt racing all these years, and I have a silly accident, is this a sign? Should I give up while I’m still almost ahead?’ And I thought: ‘No, I still have unfinished business,’ and I kept going.”
“I lasted another year in F1 and, in the end, I was let go. That was the reality at the time. But I think, after that, I had already been let go twice in the last two years. That also wore me down a lot. I had dedicated myself so much and felt quite exhausted. Reflecting on it, I’m grateful they made the decision for me,” he concluded.
Read more Giassi secures podium in the Porsche Cup at Velocitta
