All the talk coming into the latest Grand Prix weekend this year in Singapore, was this would be the last race for Daniel Ricciardo in his RB car. Just weeks earlier the Aussie believed this would be the case, but that he was getting a promotion to replace the hapless Sergio Perez.

Yet two days into the summer break, Red Bull announced Perez would remain given there were circuits coming in the next four rounds where the Mexican driver had won three times and was a specialist.

Checo failed to deliver collecting just eleven points during these events and he threw away a golden opportunity for a P3 podium by crashing with Carlos Sainz late in the race on Sunday. Yet it is Ricciardo who Red Bull have let go and Perez future for the rest of the season is said to be secure.

 

 

 

Red Bull spout party line in Singapore

Of course Checo’s Mexican sponsors bring big money to the Red Bull cause and Perez and his backers home Grand Prix in Mexico is just two events away. Speculation arose yesterday that Perez in fact will be announcing his retirement in Mexico and will get one last hurrah in front of his home crowd.

This curtesy was not offered to Daniel Ricciardo who spent the entire weekend in Singapore hearing the Red Bull party line that “a decision was being made after the race,” which included input from Christian Horner.

It appears whilst dealing with their own internal troubles, Red Bull have been blinded by their own importance and failed to see the huge backlash they would receive for treating an eight time Grand Prix winner in such a shabby fashion.

The reality all along was the decision had been made some weeks ago, but Red Bull strung Ricciardo along anyway. What’s the worst that could have happened had Daniel been given the opportunity for a farewell weekend? He sulks and doesn’t drive well? – He came last anyway due to RB’s tactic to steal the fastest lap point from Lando Norris.

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Lawson reveals Horner et al LIED

The real reason is behind the scenes Visa Cash App were lobbying heavily for Ricciardo to be retained, as he is the face of a number of their campaigns since they joined F1 as the RB team named sponsor.

Unwittingly, Liam Lawson has outed Red Bull and their bare faced lies together with the continued disingenuous spouting of “no decision has yet been made.” The New Zealander was in doubt what was about to occur and he tells Newstalk ZB, “I knew about it for the last probably two weeks.”

“It had been the plan for a long time now, where this was where it was leading”, added Lawson. “I had a contract date that that needed to be fulfilled. Basically it was going towards this way, and then a couple of weeks ago basically they told me this is what was going to happen, and then basically not long after that it was basically set in stone.”

So Ricciardo was in fact hung out to dry, not given the opportunity to say goodbye from the cockpit of his car and Red Bull lied all weekend suggesting no decision had yet been made.

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Ricciardo clearly did not know

When asked in Singapore on the media day, Thursday, Riciardo revealed decisions were about to be made but he believed them to be about 2025. There was no doubt in his mind he was staying with RB until after the race weekend in Abu Dhabi, more evidence of Red Bull double talk.

“My first expectation is [it will be] about next year,” he said, per The Race. “That’s where I’m at at the moment,” said Ricciardo when asked about the upcoming big Red Bull pow wow. “Basically, I do expect a yes or a no for 2025.

“I’m aware of some talk and speculation about the rest of the season. That, at the moment, I’m unaware of.”

Yes Ricciardo acknowledges an in season change was possible but claimed it hadn’t been raised with him as yet. It wasn’t until Saturday night, having been knocked out in 16th — eight places behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda — that Ricciardo’s demeanour changed.

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Marko says Ricciardo told just before race

Even though Ricciardo was out of F1 by Sunday night, his future remained unconfirmed. “I’m aware it could be it,” he said emotionally after the race. “I’m also just exhausted after the race.

“There’s a flood of many emotions and feelings and exhaustion. The cockpit is something that I got very used to for many years. I just wanted to savour the moment.”

Four days later on Thursday, Red Bull made their announcement which interestingly didn’t state Liam Lawson had been signed as a full time driver for 2025. Dr. Helmut Marko was asked by Motorsport-Total why Ricciardo had been abandoned with knowledge of his future, the Austrian appeared to admit he’d been told just prior to the race.

“[The timing] was related to a variety of factors and obligations,” he said, presumably relating to the Visa Cash App lobbying. “He was informed, and the worthy farewell performance was, I think, the fastest lap.”

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Lawson making excuses already

With Liam Lawson only announced as yet for the remaining six races of the year, Red Bull are again opening themselves up to interrogation over their future driver lineups. Perez will surely say goodbye to his fans in Mexico, but who knows whether he will now survive the rest of the season.

Lawson himself seemed to be cautious on the announcement of his drive for RB in Austin and appeared to be making excuses already should he not perform as expected.

“Obviously I’m very happy, but it’s six rounds left in the season, so I’m coming in at a difficult time,” he said. “It’s going to be a very challenging point. All these [drivers] have done three quarters of a season now, so I have to try and compete with that – at tracks that I haven’t done [driven at] as well.”

Franco Colapinto knew he too was behind the curve when he replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, but the Argentinian didn’t feel it necessary to point this out.

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Marko says Lawson “under evaluation” only

Dr. Marko too added to the speculation Lawson may not get a long term drive with the team when he explained: “We have a good number of young drivers, that is clear,” said the 81 year old Austrian, with F2 leader Isaac Hadjar and the highly promising Arvin Lindblad waiting in the wings for their F1 opportunities.

“We have to look towards the future, and we want to have a comparison. Where does Lawson stand compared [to Yuki Tsunoda]?”

Hardly a vote of confidence for the young New Zealander, but should he fail to perform well against his Japanese team mate, the genuine possibility of him having just six races left in his F1 career are not minuscule – particularly given Red Bull’s current frail mindset of their driver selections.

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Renault coded message in F1 engine factory announcement

Renault announced today that F1 engine activities at Viry would “continue until the end of the 2025 season”. Implied is after that they will cease, but the statement from the French manufacturer appears deliberately vague. 

Clearly for 2026 any F1 power unit manufacturer is now well under way with their research and development programme with Red Bull first time producers of an F1 powertrain having released regular progress updates for now over a year.

Renault will have made a similar investment to others thus far in the R&D and testing for their 2026 power unit but rumours have persisted they will for the first time since they entered F1 own a team but not supply the power. Mercedes are rumoured to be the apple of the Alpine management’s eye at the moment… READ MORE