Ricciardo Officially Leaving Red Bull After Ridiculous, Drawn Out Process

Daniel Ricciardo is officially back on the Formula 1 beach with news that his team is letting him go.

After a lengthy, drawn-out quasi-goodbye at the Singapore Grand Prix, the popular Australian-born driver has officially been let go by Visa Cash App RB.

The team announced the news — even though if you watched the last race, you knew it was inevitable — on social media.

The team announced that the changes will take immediate effect, with Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson taking over beginning with the United States Grand Prix next month at Austin's Circuit of the Americas.

"Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," team boss Laurent Mekies said in a statement. "He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit. 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."

Ricciardo offered his response to the news in a post on Instagram.

Ricciardo joined the team — which was known as AlphaTauri at the time — in 2023 to replace struggling rookie Nyck de Vries after starting the year as Red Bull's reserve driver. That season, he suffered a broken arm at Zandvoort and was replaced by Lawson who really impressed until Ricciardo returned.

Ricciardo had been on the hot seat for a bit, and in Singapore, it was very clear that the race was his last (at least for now) even though the team didn't make an official announcement ahead of time.

The eight-time race winner — seven of which came with Red Bull — seemed to get about as much out of VCARB's car as his teammate Yuki Tsunoda at times this year, but he was always the one on the hot seat. 

Lawson is an incredibly talented driver and probably should have been in that car from the start of the season, instead of slapping a respected vet like Ricciardo with a brutal mid-season replacement. 

The 22-year-old from New Zealand will likely be with VCARB in 2025 as well, and that would mean that the only spot left on the grid that Ricciardo could potentially snag is at Sauber. However, they're reportedly angling toward sticking with current driver Valtteri Bottas and partnering him with newcomer Nico Hulkenberg, who will wrap up this season with Haas.