Daniel Ricciardo: No Sadness or Regrets If Singapore Was F1 Swan Song

Daniel Ricciardo says he will leave Formula 1 with “no sadness or regrets” if Sunday’s F1 Singapore Grand Prix was to be his final event in the championship.

RB’s test and reserve driver Liam Lawson has been heavily linked with Ricciardo’s 2025 seat and it is anticipated that Lawson could be afforded the final six Grands Prix of this season.

Red Bull’s management have had several opportunities to affirm Ricciardo’s position for the remainder of 2024, and have not done so, while Ricciardo’s RB team formed a guard of honor when he returned to its hospitality building post-race.

“I would have loved a better weekend and who knows if that would have changed anything or if the decision’s been made already prior to the weekend,” Ricciardo said post-race. I’m obviously prepared for it, that’s why over the weekend I tried to acknowledge a few things as well with myself.

“I think I acknowledged also why I came back into the sport, sometimes you see the big picture and I always said I don’t want to be a guy who’s just here on the grid and fighting for a point every now and then which has kind of been how this year’s gone. Obviously this year the purpose was to try and do good enough to get back into Red Bull and fight for wins again, see if I’ve still got it. I felt like I came up short with that, so I think it’s then ok what else am I fighting for here, what else is going to give me fulfillment.”

Ricciardo Denies Norris a Key Point

There was a highlight for Ricciardo that had the folks at Red Bull smiling.

Ricciardo started 16th and finished the race in 18th, with RB opting to pit him late on for Soft tires, ensuring he grabbed the fastest lap of the race—in turn denying the bonus point to race winner Lando Norris.

“I’ve guaranteed myself a very nice Christmas present,” Ricciardo joked on the possibility of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beating Norris to the title by a point.

Expanding on the possibility of Singapore being his swansong Ricciardo said: “Look, I tried to obviously enjoy it, a little bit like the end of ‘22 at McLaren, obviously I was aware maybe that was my last race so I tried to enjoy that.

“I think I’m in a much happier place in the sport now than I was then, if this was it then let’s say I have a little bit more peace, I’m proud of the career, I tried to become World Champion, I tried to become the best at something in the world, I think it is a tall task that we ask from ourselves, some achieve it, some don’t, in the end if I came up a little short I also can’t be too hard on myself, happy with the effort I put in and for that there’s no sadness or feeling or regret or what could have been.”

An emotional Ricciardo was also candidly honest about his own limitations through the course of the last couple of years.

“I’m also 35, I still showed the pace I had over the years but it’s also been evident that it’s been harder for me to show it every weekend and maybe that is a little bit of an age thing,” he said.

“It definitely came easier for me when I was 25 as opposed to 35, and it also maybe the competition is also increasing. I think that’s a common thing with all sports, the simulators are getting better, the kids are getting younger, so naturally they have access to all onboards now, they can watch and study everyone, maybe the level’s increased and it’s probably a tall task to fight at that level week in week out.

“I can’t be disappointed with that, I’m happy that once upon a time I could do it, and that was a lot of fun, and if this is it, I want to make sure I leave the sport with good memories of it and it doesn’t get to that place where it’s just a grind and I’m out of Q1 every weekend, that’s obviously not fun.”

Ricciardo was also voted Driver of the Day by Formula 1’s global viewers.

“I don’t think [the vote] normally means much to us drivers, it’s nice, but it’s not something to brag about,” he said. “But I think today the fans read the media and know this could be my last one so I think that’s a really nice gesture from them and today it is appreciated, I do acknowledge that, I thank them for, yeah, being a part of it and acknowledging my efforts and my love for the sport.

"Obviously there were times it tested me and I wasn’t always grinning ear to ear but I felt like I always tried to have as much fun with it and leave as much as I could on track.”

Results

F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Lando Norris, McLaren, 62 laps

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +20.9 seconds

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +41.8

George Russell, Mercedes, +1:01.0

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +1:02.4

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +1:25.2

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, +1:36.0

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +1 lap

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, +1 lap

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, + 1 lap

Franco Colapinto, Williams, +1 lap

Yuki Tsunoda, RB, +1 lap

Esteban Ocon, Alpine, +1 lap

Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin, +1 lap

Zhou Guanyu, Kick Sauber, +1 lap

Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber, +1 lap

Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +1 lap

Daniel Ricciardo, RB, +1 lap

Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +5 laps

Alex Albon, Williams, +47 laps

Constructors' Championship Standings

McLaren 516

Red Bull 475

Ferrari 441

Mercedes 329

Aston Martin 86

RB 34

Haas 31

Williams 16

Alpine 13

Kick Sauber 0

Drivers' Championship

Max Verstappen 331

Lando Norris 279

Charles Leclerc 245

Oscar Piastri 237

Carlos Sainz 190

Lewis Hamilton 174

George Russell 155

Carlos Perez 144

Fernando Alonso 62

Nico Hulkenberg 24

Lance Stroll 24

Yuki Tsunoda 22

Alex Albon 12

Daniel Ricciardo 12

Pierre Gasly 8

Oliver Bearman 7

Kevin Magnussen 6

Esteban Ocon 5

Franco Colapinto 4

Zhou Guanyu 0

Logan Sargeant 0

Valtteri Bottas 0