Daniel Ricciardo opens up on F1 exit

For many Formula 1 fans, Daniel Ricciardo was the face of their pathway to the sport. The first season of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive centered on the driver’s surprising decision to leave Red Bull for Renault, and the charismatic driver helped draw many new fans to F1.

So his return to the Red Bull family late in his career offered a chance for a Hollywood ending. But that fell short of hopes and expectations, when he was sidelined at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls late in the 2024 campaign.

However, the driver admits that he was “grateful” that the team made that decision for him.

In a new episode of the Drive podcast with Ford CEO Jim Farley, Ricciardo admitted that he was contemplating his future in the sport when VCARB decided to replace him following the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix with Liam Lawson.

“In the third race in I broke my hand,” he said in the podcacst released by Ford. “It was such a nothing accident, but I missed however many races, I was out for 10 weeks or something.”

Ricciardo suffered the injury after making a shocking return to VCARB midway through the 2023 season.

The driver told Farley that he found himself wondering “[i]s this now a bit of a sign like should I just quit while I’m ahead, nearly. And I was like, no, there’s still unfinished business and I pushed through it.”

Ricciardo returned for the finish to the 2023 season, and started the 2024 campaign as well. But the results did not follow.

“I lasted another year in F1 and then ultimately got let go,” he said. “That was the reality at the time.”

Ultimately, VCARB dropped him after the Singapore Grand Prix.

“Once that happened, I’d been let go twice in the last two years. It had also taken a lot out of me. I’d put a lot of my soul into it and I did feel pretty exhausted by it.

“In reflection, I was grateful that they made the decision for me, because I think it would have been hard to [say]: ‘I’m done’”.

Riccardo also indicated that deep down, he knew it was the end.

“There’s people that love you and will still tell you that you’re great and you can do it. But as much as you love them as well, you need to just close the door and make that decision on your own and be really honest with yourself,” said Ricciardo.

“If I would have got to the end of last year, I think I would have still had a lot of these thoughts and had the conversation with myself because I knew it was becoming harder for me and I had to dig really deep to pull out a result that I was proud of.

“You always want to believe everyone’s looking out for you, and they probably still are, but they don’t know what it’s like to be you and in your situation.”