“I’m Daniel Ricciardo and I’m a automotive mechanic.”
These have been the phrases that had self-confessed “Drive to Survive followers” Zoe Jewell and Hannah Corridor hooked on Components 1. The pair fell in love with the game, thanks in no small half to Ricciardo’s cheeky manner within the first episode of Netflix’s smash docuseries 5 years in the past, and went on to launch the “Fan Conduct” F1 podcast. They joke that their complete enterprise, and love for motorsport, can be nonexistent with out him.
Within the wake of the information that Ricciardo would get replaced by rookie Liam Lawson forward of the US Grand Prix, social media feeds have been flooded with emotional movies as followers eulogised his 13-year profession and contemplated whether or not the ‘honey badger’ had been short-changed — not solely by Crimson Bull, however by F1 at giant, by being denied a correct send-off.
“Daniel’s the very first face you see, the very first individual you are launched to,” Jewell instructed Motorsport whereas discussing the pilot episode of ‘DTS.’ “He has such an infectious persona; he’s so likable and really easy to root for. There was a human aspect about him right away: you possibly can see your self hanging out with him or him being part of your pal group.”
Lewis Hamilton, who’s arguably the world’s best-known F1 driver, and each Mercedes and Ferrari declined to take part within the first season of ‘DTS,’ which pressured Ricciardo into the limelight. By the point followers bought a peek behind Hamilton’s helmet in Season Two, they have been already enamoured by the Aussie’s boyish appeal, and the promise that he was a world champion in-waiting.
“He was this connection level for lots of people attempting to determine F1 for the primary time,” Jewell defined. “For me, Daniel was the first step, then I bought obsessive about the racing, then it was studying about technique … I don’t know if I might have continued with the present had it not been for him,” she admitted.
Corridor chimed in, “I don’t suppose the impression of the present would have been the identical if he wasn’t the lead character. And also you simply can’t ignore the very fact he performed a giant half on this new, closely feminine group of followers who’re taking part within the sport.”
Liberty Media, the multi-billion greenback conglomerate that bought F1 from Bernie Ecclestone in 2017, has made no secret of its need to seize the American sports activities market, and has boasted about skyrocketing attendance and viewership within the wake of the post-’DTS’ increase. Many followers suppose that success is owed, partially, to the 35-year-old Australian, who’s had an plain impression on the game’s shifting demographic, which now skews a lot youthful and much more feminine than many years previous.
“Daniel was so prepared to dive into American tradition and American media … I feel folks overlook that even just a few years in the past not a whole lot of drivers have been doing that,” Jewell stated. “Daniel was the individual to go on podcasts, discuss reveals, YouTube … and join with followers in numerous methods than different drivers had.”
Two Ladies One Components podcast-co-host Nicole Sievers, who grew to become a fan of the Australian after stumbling throughout his post-race interviews on-line, echoed the sentiment.
“I feel he introduced out a whole lot of persona within the different drivers and gave them the approval to be themselves in a panorama the place they weren’t allowed to do social media and have these massive personalities when Bernie was in cost,” she stated, referencing the local weather within the paddock earlier than Liberty Media swooped in. “They have been simply form of anticipated to point out up and race however I feel Daniel all the time fought again on that.”
Ricciardo’s infectious persona and fearlessness on monitor made him a fan-favorite
Photograph by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Photographs
Nonetheless, he wasn’t in a position to attain the identical heights he achieved at Crimson Bull after departing the crew in 2018
Photograph by: Pirelli
After all, drivers commonly lose their seats and fan-favorites exit the game (see Sebastian Vettel in 2022) however Ricciardo’s departure feels extra emotionally-charged than something we’ve witnessed within the trendy period, and it’d simply come again to that first season of ‘DTS.’
“For the wave of followers that bought into F1 by means of Drive to Survive, they by no means bought to see him succeed on the stage he was at in his Crimson Bull days,” Jewell stated. “It leaves this sense of unfinished enterprise as a result of he was bought to us in that first season as this nice potential world champion and it by no means occurred for him. It makes all of this much more troublesome for folks to swallow.”
Even Ricciardo’s die-hard followers aren’t delusional although. His lack of efficiency in recent times is obvious, and lots of of them agree his time on the grid was coming to a pure conclusion. However the circumstances wherein the axe fell on his profession has left a poor style in folks’s mouths.
“It breaks my coronary heart. The truth that they’re treating him this manner is devastating,” Sievers stated. “He’s accomplished a lot for this sport, particularly in America. Crimson Bull made him be their courtroom jester as a reserve driver in 2023, then we noticed Christian [Horner] saying he has a powerful future on the crew … to fireside him with six races left within the season once they’re not even within the championship rivalry feels so horrible.”
Corridor additionally criticised Horner, and Crimson Bull management, for bringing Ricciardo again into the fold simply to “smack him when he’s down” with no celebration or send-off.
“Certain, he’s not driving his greatest proper now however he’s on par with Yuki [Tsunoda] so you may’t say it’s about efficiency. The entire thing’s been actually mishandled. Disgrace on Crimson Bull and disgrace on Components 1.”
Ricciardo’s axing comes amid a spate of rookies stepping as much as F1: fellow Aussie Jack Doohan, Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman have all secured seats on the 2025 grid alongside Lawson. In the meantime, 21-year-old Franco Colapinto changed Logan Sargeant at Williams earlier this month and scored factors in simply his second race.
Katy Fairman, a motorsport journalist who has borne witness to Ricciardo’s affect on the game over the previous decade, stated she understands the choice RB made.
“I think about Crimson Bull don’t need to let a promising younger junior escape and go some other place,” she stated of Lawson. “And the fact is that Ricciardo hasn’t been performing on the stage he must “
“However for a legacy like Daniel Ricciardo’s there positively ought to have been extra respect there so we will correctly rejoice the top of a very iconic period in F1.”
