Why Ricciardo deserves a proper F1 farewell, even if his time is up

"So that's it after 13 years, so long, good luck?"
"I don't recall saying good luck."

A slightly paraphrased line from The Simpsons, where the hapless Kirk Van Houten gets fired from his job at the cracker factory, rather sums up the apathetic approach to Daniel Ricciardo's potential exit from Formula 1. Most people understand that Singapore was his last race for RB before Liam Lawson gets drafted into the line-up for the United States Grand Prix. But the team has kept largely schtum; Laurent Mekies 'strongly hinted' that the perma-grinning Australian might have driven his last - even saying as much in the team's post-race press release.

But if Ricciardo had any clarity on his situation, he did a fine job of pretending he had no clue whether he'd be back after the four-week lay-off. In truth, he probably didn't need to pretend, as it's not like there was any sense of closure in the Singapore aftermath.

Being given a set of soft tyres to go and pump in a fastest lap was not really indicative of a leaving present. RB's team principal Laurent Mekies explained the decision to give Ricciardo a last hurrah - and conveniently swipe the point on offer from Lando Norris' clutches - was “as simple as giving the guy a chance in what has been a crazy weekend. It's like: give him a break, give him a chance to post a good lap and finish this weekend on a high.”

For the years of service Ricciardo has given the Red Bull family of teams, and the eight wins that kept the trophy cabinet cleaners busy during a rather barren spell for Red Bull, it's quite a rubbish leaving present. It's the F1 equivalent of being given a book token, or a box of melted Milk Tray that someone's found in the cupboard during a last-minute whip-around. And, being 18th on the road, he doesn't even get a point out of it.

The general lack of clarity over Ricciardo's future is Formula 1 at its unsentimental worst. Sure, he's a grown man and he'll deal with it with a trademark smile plastered on his face, but the lack of a proper farewell does him a great disservice. Among the struggles at McLaren and a 'comeback' with AlphaTauri/RB that has hardly been festooned with highlights, it's forgotten just how brilliant Ricciardo used to be. A career like that should be celebrated properly.

Ricciardo was given an awkward farewell by the F1 paddock, not knowing if the Singapore GP will actually be his last race

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

After all, Fernando Alonso got a proper send-off in 2018, only to return after two years away. McLaren raced in a special Alonso-themed livery, decorated in his trademark sky blue/red/yellow helmet colours, while the paddock was scattered with farewell messages and deckchairs among the earlier attempts to tap into F1 meme-dom. Sebastian Vettel held a run in the 2022 Abu Dhabi finale with the great and good of the paddock in attendance. Felipe Massa got two farewell tours as he was pulled out of retirement thanks to Nico Rosberg's surprise decision to quit. These were all championship winners, title contenders, or race winners, who got to bow out on their own terms.

It doesn't have to be a mawkish affair to go out on; we're not suggesting that F1 wheels out Andrea Bocelli to croon Con te partirò to a crowd of weeping onlookers, but anything would be preferable to the uncertainty of his not-even-confirmed departure.

For the benefit of those who have come to enjoy F1 in only recent seasons, it behoves us to reflect on the fearless competitor that Ricciardo was in his pomp. First, there was the snaggletoothed, curly-haired youngster that spent half of 2011 racing in a hopeless HRT car. He showed up a few veterans in that time despite the evident crapulence of the machinery he was parachuted into, earning a place at Toro Rosso for the following year.

His magnum opus has to be China 2018, a win that appeared to come from nowhere. It hinged purely on Ricciardo's brilliance that day, enshrining the "lick the stamp and send it" phraseology into F1's lexicon

F1 hipsters of the time might have argued that Jean-Eric Vergne was the better prospect, pointing to the mercurial Frenchman's greater points haul in 2012. In truth, Ricciardo outqualified 'JEV' 16-4 that year, and then scored more points in 2013 (and held a 15-4 qualifying advantage) to prove himself as worthy of the Mark Webber-vacated Red Bull seat in 2014.

This was the season that really hurled Ricciardo into the stratosphere. The Red Bull RB10 of that year was a pretty handy chassis, but restrained by the gutless first-edition Renault V6 turbo-hybrid that darkened its engine bay. It was also horrifically unreliable, barely stringing together a stint in testing and led Red Bull to ponder if it could even finish the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo plonked the Red Bull on the front row, splitting the Mercedes duo despite the Silver Arrows' significant car advantage. He finished second behind Nico Rosberg, although later got disqualified for a breach of the new fuel-flow regulations. This did not deter him; Ricciardo won three races in a year dominated by Mercedes and trounced team-mate Vettel by a significant margin. There are many who like to suggest that Vettel drove with pace in reserve, aiming to trigger a performance clause in his contract that would grease his path to joining Ferrari - but in reality, Ricciardo was the better driver all year.

The Australian's maiden win in the 2014 Canadian GP, quickly followed by triumphs in Hungary and Belgium, showed a star in the making

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

2015 was a struggle and Ricciardo was outscored by new team-mate Daniil Kvyat, but the RB11 was a very poor car. In any case, Ricciardo won the qualifying head-to-head by 12-7 over the Russian - but the bigger indicator of the Perth-born driver's talent emerged when Max Verstappen joined the team in early 2016.

Although the Dutch driver had not yet developed into the relentless force of nature that currently lays claim to a fourth F1 title, he was still effortlessly quick. The rough edges needed to be worn down, but his reputation was such that Ricciardo knew he needed to raise his game. As of today, none of the team-mates Verstappen has driven with have ever challenged him as much as Ricciardo did.

And then there's Ricciardo's wins. The first, Canada 2014, was a bit of a gimme as both Mercedes driver encountered MGU-K issues. The second, in Hungary, was stellar in wet-to-dry conditions and started to forge his reputation as a fearless - yet clinical - racer. And when the Mercedes duo came to blows in Belgium, Ricciardo was there to pick up the pieces.

But his magnum opus has to be China 2018, a win that appeared to come from nowhere. It hinged purely on Ricciardo's brilliance that day, enshrining the "lick the stamp and send it" phraseology into F1's lexicon. He'd started sixth but, in the final 20 laps, he pressed a set of fresh tyres into service after Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley came to blows at the penultimate corner. Ricciardo reeled off moves on Kimi Raikkonen, team-mate Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton - the latter from quite a long way back.

Vettel was brushed aside with DRS, but his "send it" move on Valtteri Bottas secured the victory when he fired his Red Bull down the inside at Turn 6. It was a rare highlight in a dismal season, where Ricciardo bore the brunt of desperate unreliability that term - which ultimately pushed him to the exit door.

He never really found a home at Renault, despite some impressive moments in 2019 and 2020, and the McLaren experiment brought a Monza race win in 2021 but precious little else. 2022 was such a bruising year that Ricciardo needed time away to refocus and readjust. With his Red Bull "third driver" role, he aimed to keep his foot in the door in case the team wanted to jettison Sergio Perez, and team principal Christian Horner was keen on bringing Ricciardo back to his best to give Verstappen a bit more of a challenge.

Despite still smiling, the wheels literally came off Ricciardo's F1 career at McLaren

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

It's sad that the past year-and-a-bit hasn't worked out for Ricciardo. The comeback trail appears to have been marred by the fractured hand sustained in Zandvoort more than it previously appeared: without that, Ricciardo might have got up to speed over 2023 and come into 2024 in a richer vein of form. Instead, it rather put Liam Lawson on the map, and Ricciardo has struggled all year with the sensibilities of this year's VCARB 01 chassis.

If this is to be it for Ricciardo, it'll be disappointing; his jovial approach and charisma drew thousands of people to support him, and he carried the hopes of Australia for the best part of a decade as he contended for race victories amid Red Bull's leaner years. It's hard to say that he's worthy of remaining on the grid, simply because the requisite performance this year has not materialised, but that's not to say that his career as a whole cannot be celebrated. It should.

And it's a shame that he looks set to walk into the sunset without any real fanfare. For someone who has been such an effervescent presence, particularly in the muted late-Bernie-era F1 paddock, he deserves a suitably vivacious swansong - before later donning his cowboy hat and riding a horse into the Texan sunset. That would be some proper closure.

Is Ricciardo set to ride into the sunset once more?

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images