It was expected and it is now official: Daniel Ricciardo has been dismissed by RB F1. He will be replaced by Liam Lawson.
The sidelining of the Australian was not the most elegant in form, but was it not justified in substance?
For Günther Steiner, the former director of Haas, Red Bull and RB F1 made a decision that was logical – there was also the risk of losing Lawson too.
“It’s not a big surprise. Liam did a good job last year when he replaced Daniel for five races. »
“I think Red Bull knew that if they hadn’t put Liam in a car next year he could have gone somewhere else – and they didn’t want to lose him. Hiring him now allows them to evaluate him for next year. »
Were Daniel Ricciardo’s results insufficient to allow him to end the year? How to explain that the multiple race winner at Red Bull has lost his mojo since the McLaren F1 years, according to Günther Steiner?
“Of course it’s hard for Daniel. »
“When he left McLaren he was not in a good state. You could see he wasn’t the real Danny. He wasn’t himself. Maybe he came back too soon, thinking he could come back like Fernando Alonso, like Kevin Magnussen, like Nico Hulkenberg and everything would be fine, but that wasn’t the case. »
Günther Steiner therefore thinks that Daniel Ricciardo should not have tried to make his return to F1…
“It’s easier said than done, but a guy like him should say to himself: ‘I’ve won eight races in Formula 1, I’ve done my time there – now it’s time to move on following “.
“There’s no point in suffering to prove something when you’ve already proven to the world that you can win races. He didn’t win these races by chance. He fought hard for each of them. »
“He is a great character and a likeable man. Everyone got along well with him. But it’s Formula 1, and that’s how it is. There are only 20 places on the grid. You have to perform to survive. »
“It is very difficult to decide to change drivers, whether during the season or for the following campaign. »
“From my experience at Haas, I know that the longer you wait, the harder it is. Everyone gives you their opinion and that makes things more difficult, more painful. »
“It’s never nice to tell a driver that he’s out of the race. Sometimes you have to take a risk, sometimes it doesn’t work. It’s not easy. »
Günther Steiner, despite these words of sympathy, is even quite harsh towards the choice of replacing Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo…
“They put Daniel in place of Nyck, but it obviously wasn’t the right choice because they removed him mid-season. Someone made a bad decision. They could have put Liam in then. »
“Looking back, you know…I’m not trying to blame someone who made a bad decision. It’s just one of those things. It’s an instinctive feeling. »
Can Lawson establish himself as Max Verstappen’s future teammate?
The question now is whether Lawson will impress at RB F1.
If he gets the better of Yuki Tsunoda, which is far from certain, could he even replace Sergio Pérez at Red Bull sooner than expected according to Günther Steiner?
“Liam is an intelligent guy, a bit like Oscar Piastri. He waits for his chance, doesn’t open his mouth, doesn’t criticize things, just moves forward and learns. I think he’s well prepared to hit the stage. »
“Red Bull was impressed by the five races he competed in, which helped make the decision to hire him. »
“By bringing Liam in, they can assess him against Yuki Tsunoda and see if he is good enough to take over from Sergio Perez at Red Bull. »
“Ultimately your responsibility as a team principal is to do everything in your power to make sure you have the best possible driver in the car. This means that you sometimes have to make difficult decisions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s the whole challenge. »
