RB drops Ricciardo after 2 seasons for Lawson

Eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by RB on Thursday, likely signaling the end of his Formula 1 tenure.

Liam Lawson will replace Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2024 season.

"Everyone here at (RB) would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," team principal Laurent Mekies said in a statement. "Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family."

RB's decision confirms rampant speculation that the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix would be Ricciardo's last race for the team. Ricciardo appeared emotional in interviews after the race, stating that he had to "be prepared for this maybe being it," according to James Galloway of Sky Sports.

Ricciardo recorded the fastest lap in the Singapore race, taking a point off Lando Norris for reigning world champion Max Verstappen. Mekies said, "Given this may have been Daniel's last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savor it and go out with the fastest lap."

The Australian driver spent the majority of his career with Red Bull. He started as a test driver for the junior team, then known as Toro Rosso, in 2011 before being promoted to the main team in 2014. He went on to win seven races in his five seasons with Red Bull from 2014-18 before departing for Renault, where he spent two years.

Ricciardo returned to the Red Bull family in 2023 as a third driver after a disappointing two-year stint at McLaren. He was loaned out to RB, then known as AlphaTauri, midway through the 2023 season in hopes of making a return to the main Red Bull lineup alongside Verstappen.

His 2023 return was interrupted in his third race back when he sustained a broken metacarpal in his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix. Lawson replaced Ricciardo for the next five races and impressed, knocking out Verstappen in Q2 in Singapore before finishing ninth in the race.

Ricciardo scored 18 points since returning to the grid last season. Highlights of his return included qualifying fourth in Mexico in 2023, ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, and finishing seventh. He also started fifth in Montreal earlier this year after coming only 0.178 seconds off pole.