F1: Daniel Ricciardo leaves RB with immediate effect, Liam Lawson named replacement
The 35-year-old won eight races, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps and 32 podium finishes - the latest fastest lap record came during the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.
Published : Sep 26, 2024 21:28 IST , Chennai - 3 MINS READ
FILE PHOTO: 18th placed Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Visa Cash App RB speaks to the media after the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Daniel Ricciardo will leave Visa Cash App RB with immediate effect, as announced by the team on Thursday. Liam Lawson will replace him at RB for the remainder of the 2024 season.
This brings Ricciardo’s second stint in Formula One to an end.
The Australian returned to a Formula 1 race seat last year in Hungary with AlphaTauri and stayed on when it became RB for this campaign.
The 35-year-old won eight races, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps and 32 podium finishes - the latest fastest lap record came during the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.
The Australian made his F1 debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT as part of a deal with Red Bull Racing. He earned a full-time drive with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) in 2012 and competed in two seasons for the team alongside Jean-Eric Vergne.
Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull in 2014 to replace the retiring Mark Webber and partnered with four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
During this five-year stint, he took his maiden career win at the Canadian Grand Prix, followed by in Hungary and Belgium. He won seven races with Red Bull before switching to Renault (now Alpine) in 2019.
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He managed to finish on the podium a few times in the two years he spent with the French team. In 2021, he joined McLaren and won the Italian Grand Prix, his only win for the team and the last of his career.
Ricciardo lasted only two years with McLaren before being re-signed by Red Bull as its reserve driver for the 2023 season. However, he found himself in the F1 cockpit once again, when he replaced Nyck de Vries at Scuderia Alpha Tauri, now RB, at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
He was signed for another season with RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda. After 18 races this year, he occupies 14th place with 12 points while his teammate sits two positions above him with 22 points.
The 22-year-old Lawson, who was been Red Bull’s reserved driver will take Ricardo’s seat from the US Grand Prix onwards.
The New Zealander has been an F1 driver in waiting ever since he stepped in to replace an injured Ricciardo for five races last season.
He made his F1 debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, driving for Scuderia AlphaTauri.
At the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, Lawson qualified in tenth place and knocked out championship leader Max Verstappen out of the second part of qualifying. After fending of Alexander Albon during the last laps, Lawson finished the race in ninth, scoring points for the first time in Formula One.