Keep knowledgeable on all of the greatest tales in Method 1. Enroll right here to obtain the High Tire e-newsletter for your inbox each Monday and Friday.
SINGAPORE — Below the lighting of Marina Bay, Lando Norris used to be merely untouchable.
Ceaselessly lapping 1.5 seconds faster than Max Verstappen, his Method One championship rival, Norris by no means regarded for a era like he’d lose the Singapore Magnificent Prix.
Norris used to be eager to document his first occupation ‘grand slam,’ scoring victory from pole place, prominent all of the race (on his 8th effort from pole, he controlled to stock the govern at the opening lap) and environment the quickest lap.
His benchmark of one:34.925s used to be so fast that, next he eager it, his race engineer steered he whip a drink and lead his week. Two glances of the wall presented transient scares. Kevin Magnussen had long gone faster on unused softs, just for his pace to be deleted for monitor limits. The quickest lap bonus level, so noteceable within the identify race, used to be Norris’ to lose.
And next Daniel Ricciardo got here alongside.
In what may just smartly be his ultimate operate as an F1 motive force, Ricciardo pitted overdue to suit unused comfortable tires and, in blank breeze, journey part a 2nd faster than Norris at the race’s penultimate lap.
Ricciardo were long ago in 18th, working 2nd to terminating. There used to be not anything for him or his crew, RB, to achieve by means of pitting for unused softs and going for the quickest lap. The bonus level simplest counts should you end throughout the lead 10.
Nevertheless it would support Max Verstappen and Pink Bull Racing, RB’s senior crew. Through denying Norris the bonus level, Verstappen’s championship govern dropped to 52 issues in lieu of 51. Verstappen used to be briefly instructed at the radio next the race that his “old pal” Ricciardo had eager the quickest lap, to which Verstappen answered: “Thank you, Daniel.”
Ricciardo joked that if Verstappen have been to win the identify by means of some degree, he’d a minimum of assured himself a pleasant Christmas provide.
“He can have anything he wants,” stated Verstappen.
The quickest lap push in an instant sparked questions over its causes, given Pink Bull and RB’s shared possession. Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, has lengthy spoken towards the observe of so-called A and B groups in F1. Now, it gave the look of Pink Bull’s sister crew had moved to disclaim his motive force a an important level within the identify race.
“Given this may have been Daniel’s last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savor it and go out with the fastest lap,” RB crew fundamental Laurent Mekies stated within the crew’s post-race press let go.
Brown instructed SiriusXM next the race that he would “certainly ask some questions” about what came about and that it illustrated his considerations over sister groups operating in combination. “I think you wouldn’t have made that pit stop to go for that.”
Daniel Ricciardo using all over the Singapore Magnificent Prix. (Clive Mason/Getty Photographs)
McLaren crew fundamental Andrea Stella didn’t wish to draw as sturdy a hyperlink, however admitted he discovered it “peculiar.” Norris shrugged it off, admitting there used to be not anything he may just do. “(It’s) the logical thing to do, the smart play by them,” Norris stated. “I’m happy for Daniel, that’s all.” Toto Wolff, the Mercedes crew boss, stated he didn’t suppose it used to be “dirty tricks,” however Pink Bull merely enjoying the sport as a part of the identify struggle.
Christian Horner, Pink Bull’s crew fundamental, denied any coordination between Pink Bull and RB over the quickest lap push. “Daniel obviously wanted to finish the race on a high,” he stated. “You’d have to ask VCARB about that.” Ricciardo defined he “thought they were just letting me have some fun because we were a long way out of the points.”
The reason at the back of the quickest lap push apart, it used to be a prime to complete on in what might be the terminating race of Ricciardo’s F1 occupation.
On a weekend that began with severe dubiousness over whether or not he’d be at the grid for the nearest race in Austin (let lonely for 2025) as Liam Lawson waits to step up, Sunday’s race felt like a last farewell from the eight-time magnificent prix winner.
The hints have been there next qualifying on Saturday when Ricciardo had dropped out in Q1 past teammate Yuki Tsunoda made it thru to Q3. From sixteenth at the grid, at a side road monitor like Singapore, getting any place alike the issues would all the time be a large, large ask. Ricciardo used to be obviously downbeat in regards to the consequence, announcing it “sucks” past noting “all the s— going on” round his date.
With out a protection automotive for the primary pace within the historical past of the Singapore Magnificent Prix, Ricciardo didn’t arise a lot probability of advancing a long way up the sequence. An early restrain helped get him the undercut past compromising his technique. Two stops become 3 when he pitted for the quickest lap, which is able to journey unwell because the seventeenth of his F1 occupation.
Used to be this truly it? The top of the street next 13 years and greater than 250 begins? Ricciardo may just no longer say definitively next the race. Horner claims negative resolution has been made and the after three-week split is a “period of time where we’ll evaluate all of the relevant performances of the drivers” inside the Pink Bull jigsaw.
Then again, Ricciardo’s frame language all over his post-race interviews and the emotion in his tone made it unclouded. This truly is also it for him in F1.
Ricciardo couldn’t keep again his feelings next the race. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Photographs)
He admitted there used to be a “realistic chance” he wouldn’t be on the nearest race in Austin and sought after to absorb each unmarried era in Singapore. “I was aware maybe that was my last race, so I tried to enjoy that,” he stated. The RB crew even held a shield of honor for Ricciardo out of doors the motorhome next the race, simply in case it used to be his ultimate race for the crew. The considered that show having to be repeated this era is just too awkward to think about.
Signing off with 18th park in his ultimate get started isn’t how Ricciardo would have sought after his F1 occupation to finish, however there used to be negative feeling of be apologetic about. “I’m proud of the career,” he stated. “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 virtually 3 years at Pink Bull, paid tribute to the Australian next the race, particularly talking within the while demanding. “He’s a great guy, honestly,” Verstappen stated. “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.”
Moderately the reception for Danny Ric again at RB #F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/yn39km1ba2
— Method 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
As inevitable because it appears, a quick resolution could be perfect for everyone. The race-to-race, even session-to-session, swings inside the Pink Bull motive force setup this era involving Ricciardo, Lawson and Sergio Pérez up on the senior crew had been tough for all concerned, regardless of how it can be considered as a supply of motivation. As painful as this can be for Ricciardo, there’ll a minimum of be some answer.
The quickest lap wasn’t Ricciardo’s simplest doable goodbye present. He used to be additionally voted ‘Driver of the Day’ by means of F1 enthusiasts with 20 % 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 stated.
“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 that is it for Daniel Ricciardo and F1, it’s a high-quality sentiment for him to complete with.
GO DEEPER
Daniel Ricciardo expects name on F1 date next Singapore amid questions on residue of season
Govern picture: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Photographs
