In likely F1 farewell, Daniel Ricciardo helps ‘old pal’ Max Verstappen’s title hopes

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SINGAPORE — Under the lights of Marina Bay, Lando Norris was simply untouchable.

Regularly lapping 1.5 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen, his Formula One championship rival, Norris never looked for a moment like he’d lose the Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris was poised to record his first career ‘grand slam,’ scoring victory from pole position, leading the entire race (on his eighth attempt from pole, he managed to retain the lead on the opening lap) and setting the fastest lap.

His benchmark of 1:34.925s was so quick that, after he set it, his race engineer suggested he take a drink and manage his pace. Two glances of the wall offered brief scares. Kevin Magnussen had gone quicker on fresh softs, only for his time to be deleted for track limits. The fastest lap bonus point, so important in the title race, was Norris’ to lose.

And then Daniel Ricciardo came along.

In what could well be his final act as an F1 driver, Ricciardo pitted late to fit fresh soft tires and, in clean air, go half a second quicker than Norris on the race’s penultimate lap.

Ricciardo had been way back in 18th, running second to last. There was nothing for him or his team, RB, to gain by pitting for fresh softs and going for the fastest lap. The bonus point only counts if you finish inside the top 10.

But it would help Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, RB’s senior team. By denying Norris the bonus point, Verstappen’s championship lead dropped to 52 points instead of 51. Verstappen was quickly told on the radio after the race that his “old pal” Ricciardo had set the fastest lap, to which Verstappen replied: “Thank you, Daniel.”

Ricciardo joked that if Verstappen were to win the title by a point, he’d at least guaranteed himself a nice Christmas present.

“He can have anything he wants,” said Verstappen.

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The fastest lap push immediately sparked questions over its reasons, given Red Bull and RB’s shared ownership. Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, has long spoken against the practice of so-called A and B teams in F1. Now, it looked like Red Bull’s sister team had moved to deny his driver a crucial point in the title race.

Brown told SiriusXM after the race that he would “certainly ask some questions” about what happened and that it illustrated his concerns over sister teams working together. “I think you wouldn’t have made that pit stop to go for that.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella didn’t want to draw as strong a link, but admitted he found it “peculiar.” Norris shrugged it off, admitting there was nothing he could do. “(It’s) the logical thing to do, the smart play by them,” Norris said. “I’m happy for Daniel, that’s all.” Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, said he didn’t think it was “dirty tricks,” but Red Bull simply playing the game as part of the title fight.

Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, denied any coordination between Red Bull and RB over the fastest lap push. “Daniel obviously wanted to finish the race on a high,” he said. “You’d have to ask VCARB about that.” Ricciardo explained he “thought they were just letting me have some fun because we were a long way out of the points.”

The rationale behind the fastest lap push aside, it was a high to finish on in what could be the last race of Ricciardo’s F1 career.

On a weekend that started with serious doubt over whether he’d be on the grid for the next race in Austin (let alone for 2025) as Liam Lawson waits to step up, Sunday’s race felt like a final goodbye from the eight-time grand prix winner.

The hints were there after qualifying on Saturday when Ricciardo had dropped out in Q1 while teammate Yuki Tsunoda made it through to Q3. From 16th on the grid, at a street track like Singapore, getting anywhere near the points would always be a big, big ask. Ricciardo was clearly downbeat about the result, saying it “sucks” while noting “all the s— going on” around his future.

Without a safety car for the first time in the history of the Singapore Grand Prix, Ricciardo didn’t stand much chance of advancing far up the order. An early stop helped get him the undercut while compromising his strategy. Two stops became three when he pitted for the fastest lap, which will go down as the 17th of his F1 career.

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Was this really it? The end of the road after 13 years and more than 250 starts? Ricciardo could not say definitively after the race. Horner claims no decision has been made and the upcoming three-week break is a “period of time where we’ll evaluate all of the relevant performances of the drivers” within the Red Bull jigsaw.

However, Ricciardo’s body language throughout his post-race interviews and the emotion in his voice made it clear. This really may be it for him in F1.

He admitted there was a “realistic chance” he wouldn’t be at the next race in Austin and wanted to soak up every single moment in Singapore. “I was aware maybe that was my last race, so I tried to enjoy that,” he said. The RB team even held a guard of honor for Ricciardo outside the motorhome after the race, just in case it was his final race for the team. The thought of that display having to be repeated this year is too awkward to contemplate.

Signing off with 18th place in his final start isn’t how Ricciardo would have wanted his F1 career to end, but there was no feeling of regret. “I’m proud of the career,” he said. “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.”

Verstappen, Ricciardo’s teammate of almost three years at Red Bull, paid tribute to the Australian after the race, notably speaking in the past tense. “He’s a great guy, honestly,” Verstappen said. “We always had a great relationship. We had a sporting rivalry in the team. He would be remembered as a great driver, as a great person also. He has a great character. I think it’s very rare if someone hates him.

“I think also in a few years’ time, when I won’t be here anymore, we’ll sit back and look at all those years together and have a beer together.”

Quite the reception for Danny Ric back at RB 🤜🤛#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/yn39km1ba2

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024

As inevitable as it looks, a swift decision would be best for everybody. The race-to-race, even session-to-session, swings within the Red Bull driver setup this year involving Ricciardo, Lawson and Sergio Pérez up at the senior team have been difficult for all involved, no matter how it may be viewed as a source of motivation. As painful as this may be for Ricciardo, there will at least be some resolution.

The fastest lap wasn’t Ricciardo’s only potential farewell gift. He was also voted ‘Driver of the Day’ by F1 fans with 20 percent of the vote.

“It’s not something to brag about, 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,” Ricciardo said.

“I do acknowledge that — I thank them for 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.”

If this is it for Daniel Ricciardo and F1, it’s a fine sentiment for him to finish with.

Top photo: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images