Ralf Schumacher assumes that Daniel Ricciardo will no longer be in the car from Austin – After Singapore, Liam Lawson will take over at the Racing Bulls
Is Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career coming to an end this weekend? The Australian has not yet signed a contract for 2025, and Ralf Schumacher believes that Ricciardo may not even finish the current season
On Sky, the expert reveals: “Unfortunately, it seems to be the last race for Daniel Ricciardo in Singapore now. And then Liam Lawson will drive from then on. That was probably part of the contract, otherwise [Lawson] would have been lost.”
Background: Back in the summer, Helmut Marko confirmed that Lawson would be driving a Red Bull Formula 1 car (either Red Bull Racing or Racing Bulls) in 2025. Now the promotion of the current reserve driver may come early.
In any case, Schumacher is determined and explains: “That’s exactly the case. [Singapore] will be the last race for [Ricciardo], and then Liam Lawson will get the chance.” The expert himself can also understand this decision.
“[Racing Bulls] is a junior team,” he recalls and explains: ‘That’s also what the group management has always said and supported: ’We will rely on young drivers, on our [own] drivers’. And that’s why it makes sense. “
Is Ricciardo simply too old for the Racing Bulls?
Because Ricciardo has already turned 35 this year and therefore fits into the scheme much worse than the 22-year-old Lawson, who was allowed to replace Ricciardo for five races with the then AlphaTauri team last year after he injured his hand in an accident.
“It’s a shame for Daniel, because we will be missing a driver who is super likeable, who always has a smile and who is a pleasure to meet in the paddock,” emphasizes Schumacher. But from Red Bull’s point of view, this decision is understandable
Ricciardo was initially brought into Formula 1 by Red Bull in the 2011 season via HRT, from 2012 he drove for the then Toro Rosso team (now Racing Bulls) and in 2014 he was finally promoted to the A team alongside Sebastian Vettel.
In 2019, he left the Red Bull family for Renault and later McLaren, where his contract was terminated after the 2022 season. He then returned to Red Bull, initially as a reserve driver, before returning to the grid as a regular driver with AlphaTauri from the middle of the year.
Should he now lose his cockpit to Lawson, it would almost certainly be the definitive end to his Formula 1 career. This is because (apart from Racing Bulls) there is only one cockpit left at Sauber for the 2025 season
