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Daniel Ricciardo looks set to be sacked and replaced by Liam Lawson at V-Ca-RB as early as Singapore. As reported by Ziggo Sports reporter Rick Winkleman, the Australian could be replaced by the New Zealander, who has a contract clause where he needs to race at least 5 races for the team or else he can break out of his contract.
Ricciardo was brought back to F1 by Red Bull after an impressive tire test last season. The Australian has since been part of AlphaTauri last season and RB this season where there have been a few performances where he has done well but overall he's not given the Austrian brand any reason to make the changes at the senior team.
Lawson has been waiting in the wings this season after impressing everyone last year. As quoted by FormulaNerds, Ziggo Sport's Rick Winkleman said:
"I have heard from several people anyway that Lawson will drive Singapore. Lawson's contract with Red Bull would say that he must drive at least five races this year."
Daniel Ricciardo was brought to F1 as a Red Bull junior. After spending some time with Torro Rosso, he was deemed worthy of a promotion by the team and hence replaced Mark Webber on the senior team.
After beating Sebastian Vettel in 2014, Ricciardo took over the role as the lead Red Bull driver and was joined by Max Verstappen in 2016.
After leaving the Austrian team in 2018, Ricciardo's career has not had the same success, and eventually was brought back to the Red Bull fold at the end of 2022 when McLaren terminated his contract a year earlier. The driver has been unable to reproduce the kind of performances in RB that made him stand out early in his career and by the looks of it, this is the end of his career in F1.
Helmut Marko teased the decision on Daniel Ricciardo's seat in Baku
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko had teased the decision on Daniel Ricciardo's future and the second RB seat in Baku already. The Austrian had said that the team would be announcing its decision after the race in Singapore.
With that being said, Marko is expected to announce what's going to happen with Ricciardo in the future as Liam Lawson is lined up by the team for the future. He told Viaplay:
"We have an idea, so just wait until Singapore. It's still September and then we'll have a clear picture. It will become clear there what will happen.”
Ricciardo has been unable to assert himself in RB the way he would have wanted. It is however safe to say that the driver has been given ample opportunity to prove himself but has been unable to do it definitively.
