Daniel Ricciardo to Leave RB F1 Team; Liam Lawson to Be Replacement for Rest of Year

F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is leaving the RB immediately, the team announced Thursday, despite six races remaining on the calendar.

Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson was named as Ricciardo's replacement for the rest of the season, with his first race to be at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

"Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," RB team principal 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 seemed to see the writing on the wall this past weekend after finishing 18th at the Singapore Grand Prix.

"Possibly, I have to acknowledge that," he told reporters when asked if Singapore could be his last race. "It's been a little bit of a race-by-race situation and I would have obviously loved the weekend to have gone better. It didn't, so I have to prepared for this maybe being it."

He continued:

"I do feel, let's say, at peace with it. At some point, it'll come for all of us... I think also, I tried to get back into Red Bull, it didn't work out, so then I also have to say, 'Okay, what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?' ... Let's say maybe the fairytale ending didn't happen, but I also have to look back on what it's been. Fourteen or so years and I'm proud."

"I think when you've experienced the highs of winning, you can only fight for P10 for so long. There is nothing like that feeling, and if that no longer is possible, and if it is becoming a little harder—that's the truth: I was able to do some moments of maybe greatness this year, but it was trickier to do it week in, week out. Maybe that's [being] 35, maybe that's the competition's getting better and better. Who knows?"

Ricciardo, now 14th in the driver's standings, tallied eight wins, 32 podiums and 1,329 points in total across 258 Grands Prix and 14 seasons during his time in F1. He finished third in the driver's standings in both 2014 and 2016, his best campaigns.

As for Lawson, the 22-year-old has been a reserve since 2022, though he did replace the injured Ricciardo for five races last year and acquitted himself well, including a ninth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Red Bull will now have the chance to further evaluate him alongside Yuki Tsunoda, who currently sits 12th in the driver's standings.

"He already knows the team well," Mekies said of Lawson in his statement. "He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it'll be a natural transition. It's great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step. We're looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together."