Nico Rosberg casts ‘not shown enough’ Daniel Ricciardo verdict as axe looms

Nico Rosberg says it would be a “pity” if Singapore did prove to be Daniel Ricciardo’s last hurrah, but that the Aussie had “not shown enough” to retain his seat.

Ricciardo contested what is widely believed to have been his 257th and final Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday night, the Aussie signing off at the Marina Bay street circuit by adding a 17th fastest lap to his stats.

Nico Rosberg: Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t shown quite enough this year

Red Bull have not confirmed or denied the speculation other than to talk about the “bigger picture beyond Daniel” with Christian Horner stating Red Bull and their junior team, VCARB, will “evaluate all of the relevant performances of the drivers” in the gap between Singapore and Austin.

But according to F1’s rumour mill, the decision has been made and Sunday’s race was Ricciardo’s last with Liam Lawson taking over at the Circuit of The Americas.

The hints about that were plentiful at the Marina Bay circuit as VCARB formed a guard of honour for the Honey Badger, his good friend Natalie Pinkham applauded him as ‘Driver of the Decade’ on social media before Ricciardo was the last of drivers to leave the paddock, reportedly hugging anyone and everyone before making his exit.

Rosberg says if Sunday’s race was his last, unfortunately the driver just didn’t do enough on the track to secure his place on the grid.

“It’s a real pity, isn’t it?” 2016 World Champion Rosberg said on Sky. “Daniel is so loved. He’s such a fantastic driver, but he just hasn’t shown quite enough this year, unfortunately.”

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Ricciardo has scored 12 points this season to Yuki Tsunoda’s 22 despite Red Bull hoping he’d be the one to lead the team, and potentially replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.

Instead, it is Ricciardo who is apparently losing his race seat although Martin Brundle says he will remain a part of the Red Bull family.

“My understanding is that Liam Lawson will be in that car in Austin, but that Daniel Ricciardo stays in the pool of Red Bull drivers for options going forward into maybe later this year, but into 2025,” Brundle said.

The nine-time podium finisher believes Red Bull have to use the “unique” opportunity they have to run Lawson as today they only have Max Verstappen doing the job.

“Christian Horner said last night ‘we want to see how good he is’. I mean, he looked very good last year when he was super sub, and they need some options, going forward as only Verstappen is really delivering.

“They’ve got their own junior team on the grid, they may as well use that Red Bull, uniquely for them, and only Verstappen is really delivering.”

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