WHY RB dropped Daniel Ricciardo for Liam Lawson | Sky Sports F1 Podcast

[@StephenBaysted]

Excellent Podcast as usual Matt. So glad to see you back and well Rachel. Anthony your insight as a driver is always hugely valued obviously by everyone who watches F1 and WEC; but your comments about your struggles with your mental health experiences as a driver was very moving. Thank you for sharing. We view you racing drivers as gladiators, and as invincible super humans. Which you all are. But your honesty was revelatory and humbling. You are an inspiration to us all.

[@alansmith7158]

Nice to see Rachel back, best wishes :)

[@clementalderton5405]

Matt Baker ''I don't want to know what 20cm feels like '' 😂😂

[@Mayhemffs]

And Rachel confirmed it hurts lol

[@clementalderton5405]

@@Mayhemffs 🤣🤣

[@renruteimaj7612]

I’m sure he’d give it a go 😆

[@clementalderton5405]

@@renruteimaj7612 🤣🤣

[@NotAcvp3lla]

Danny wasn't back to his best self and RB wants to use the rest of the season to assess whether Liam could potentially replace Perez next season.

[@cathh3301]

I don’t understand that reasoning though. Surely RB has enough data on Lawson from his drives last year, FP1s and test sessions to make that assessment, no? If they want him to replace Perez next year, wouldn’t they be better off getting Lawson really imbedded in the RB team and working on the Red Bull sim instead of “practicing” in the Vcarb?

[@micsunday14]

@@cathh3301 seems fairly obvious. Op put it well

[@sandalphoncpu]

⁠@@cathh3301 if that’s considered enough to be in a RB seat, DeVries should be in that seat by your own logic after Monza

[@NotAcvp3lla]

@@cathh3301 Simply put, there are no better substitutions for the experience gained from a full race weekend (ie. Practice, Debriefing, Planning and the actual Grand Prix).

[@cathh3301]

@@NotAcvp3lla None of the other teams with rookies coming in next year have done that though, and they’ve all had less experience than Lawson

[@graemewilliams6697]

Danny Ric didn't adjust to the ground effect cars. Bearman, Lawson and Colapinto should have been in from the start of the season.

[@veckgames]

Because Ricciardo was a shadow of his past self and RB need to audition Lawson for Perez' RB seat since they really don't want to give it to Tsunoda.

[@colofsco1]

Liam is absolutely spot on about Yuki. Why is he constantly being undermined by RBR. Is there a racial bias against him, because i can't see why Yuki is never mentioned to join the senior team. This will be Yuki's third team mate, that RBR expect to beat him.

[@freddiefreihofer7716]

All the pundits were literally reading out Daniel's obituary to his face and then they encouraged, or forced, Daniel to express his own obituary on international TV - all this before the official news came out.

[@dodgemf1]

They'd been calling for his blood all season, Crofty won't enjoy his next Australian visit.

[@LeJimster]

I rate Lawson highly. He is incredibly adaptable seeing him fighting for the title in DTM and then Super Formula most recently. I'm just not sure there is enough time left this year to really showcase his talent. At least he is more prepared this time but the Sprint weekends aren't helping.

[@dodgemf1]

Theu said the same about Nyck de Vries

[@shannybo10]

Yuki didn’t wipe the floor with Liam in 23 though… this may be part of the hesitation as well as Honda not keen to leave him in RB in 26.

[@pauljarman7452]

Finally yuki getting some credit! From gasly calming him down he has really done good odd mistake but do think they should have brought yuki into rb for last 6 put lawson in against daniel and if lawson is beating daniel till end of season put someone else in spare seat! Then if max does leave they have the drivers ready for top team

[@cate20000]

Kudos Ant and Rachel for speaking up. 😎

[@ChrisDunbar]

This was a brilliant episode, great insights from all, and long enough to satisfy!

[@offcourse9241]

Red Bull have only ever delivered two drivers. They have two world champions. How many other teams have that ? Ferrari, Mercedes, Mclaren, Williams,

[@DanH-u3f]

Lawson should have gotten the seat in the first place.

[@allenngan01]

Mustn't forget that Hartley was 'suddenly' dropped by Toro Rosso in the last race at Abu Dhabi in 2018. From memory, he was told he wasn't being renewed after that race.

[@cricketmad27]

He was lucky to last the season to be honest haha. Was a test dummy for honda

[@allenngan01]

@@cricketmad27 You're not wrong! Though I'm a Kiwi so I was, of course, willing him to do well. My memory was that he wasn't as tough and selfish as he needed to be, especially against a teammate like Gasly (who I think got into Brendan's head). I remember him apologising a bit too quickly over the radio for some mistakes he made.

[@cricketmad27]

@@allenngan01 yeah by the time he got that more competitive spirit and was closer to Gasly, he was getting penalties every weekend or getting shunted off. Blew it off the line at Japan too after the amazing qualy. At least we have Liam and hopefully Louis Sharp to support through the ranks!

[@Houston1863]

Glad to see Rachel in full health. Very many thanks for the discussion and analysis especially on the nature and approach of drivers. Till next Tuesday !!!

[@ChrisTaylor-xv2tc]

Ricciardo made bad decisions that looked like they were more financially than performance based. McLaren dumped him & paid him off, he was that bad. Surprised Red Bull even gave him a 2nd chance - there are plenty of young drivers coming along & keeping people like him on is sentiment not reality.

[@Edd_LShore]

Thank you

[@blueguy12345]

RB was openly saying that Max was their boy and they were going to build the team around him... Danny read the writing on the wall. So it was a performance and his place in the team that motivated him before the money. Saying it was more motivated by money is ignoraing a large part of the story.

[@Edd_LShore]

@@blueguy12345 Yeah, he just was never N1 competing for Championship material. His peak wouodve been Bottas or Perez. 2nd with an absurdly better than the rest car

[@blueguy12345]

@@Edd_LShore yeah agreed. He came close because he had the right car at the right time but never been close again

[@Bramfly]

McLaren paying him was not because of him being bad but because of contract obligations

[@stromce]

Did they mention that much of their info came from the F1 Nation Podcast...?

[@xavierdw8929]

All of Rachel's points litterally came directly from F1 nation 😂😂

[@kuno0802]

Sorry Ant. Zandvoort had nothing to do with his demise. What if he was as lame for the rest of 2023 as he has been this year? You could argue that crash actually extended his career.

[@jme_a]

22:28 - Ant was thinking of data rates with Teraflops, instead of volume :D

[@usedtoexistonce]

what happens if lawson gets beaten by tsunoda?

[@Zen-lf7zr]

Horner commits sudoku and Helmet Marko resigns

[@hensh911]

@@Zen-lf7zr sudoku 😂😂😂

[@usedtoexistonce]

@@bsrbck but it would still be weird if he is beaten by tsunoda and lawson gets the redbull seat tsunoda needs to go some place else he keeps getting overlooked

[@usedtoexistonce]

@@bsrbck he seems to be a placeholder a daniil kvyat pierre gasly jean eric vergne type of driver who is there until someone better comes along case in point arvid lindblad

[@JTW05]

Liam should have gotten the drive instead of Daniel in the first place. Hey Daniel done something most of us would love to do, drive in F1, but he was always an average driver in a top team. People will piss and moan about that comment, but it's true. Don't know whether it was a sponsorship call or what but everyone watching at the time said Liam should have gotten the drive ahead of Daniel, it was just a matter of time before Liam replaces Daniel and the sooner the better before Liam leaves RB because of sitting behind someone who isn't performing. He got to drive in F1, was pretty competitive at times and although tipped to be a future multi World Champion, mainly by Australians lol, it never materialised. In fact the pressure got to him mentally and he had to take time out only to return and halt a young drivers progression, until he finally got the boot. Time to retire Daniel and become a pitlane commentator for some Australian TV station chasing the stars up and down pitlane 👍

[@dylanmonaghan3342]

You can’t spend 15mins talking about Ricciardo 2024 results and performance and not mention once some of the worst race strategies I have seen in 25 years of watching this sport. They through away every chance of points since his chassis change.

[@sgript]

Teraflop is not the amount of storage, it is the speed at which processing can be done. I think Ant was looking for terabyte.

[@techtipsuk]

Just don’t know why they didn’t make it official before the GP. It’s not brutal, the stopwatch doesn’t lie as Martin B always says.

[@ultimateninjanoob1]

Yuki is not finished article. He is getting better and better and he is only 24. But obviously he has more experience of F1 than Lawson

[@d.b.cooper1]

Lol nah...not being funny but a lot of these drives rarely ever get better after 4/5 years in the sport. Stroll, Albon, Magnussen, etc are all prime examples. People start to fall off if anything. Lawson will be beating Yuki within 6 races imo...

[@ultimateninjanoob1]

@@d.b.cooper1 You are completely wrong. Having speed is important others things can improve. He has the speed which is most important. He beat Lawson 4-1 in quali last year. Even in Singapore which Lawson is ahead but he could not beat Yuki's time in Q1. So he would have been at least couple of tenth faster there as well if he had set a clean lap

[@dodgemf1]

@ultimateninjanoob1 there's little evidence he has the speed, quick on Saturday and goes backwards on Sunday. His race craft is lacklustre at best.

[@ultimateninjanoob1]

@@dodgemf1 You are just one of his haters. But that is not going to stop him performing on track

[@dodgemf1]

@ultimateninjanoob1 go and watch Zandvoort, 40 laps behind Logan Sargeant, Tsunoda is slow, gets the occasional lucky point when others DNF. He's the most overrated driver on the grid.

[@WelshAl]

Easy and simple are not synonyms. Keeping Helmut happy is simple, as Ant said. Just do things that are seen as impossible. That's not easy

[@Milkydrummer]

Why do we have a fecking break!

[@MichaelSchumacherfan-p8e]

It's stupid honestly but it's because F1 ambition 2 cluster more races together based on geographical location with the aim of reducing its carbon footprint and because of this Azerbaijan was shifted from May 2 September while Japan was brought forward from autumn 2 April and because of that Qatar will be the 2nd last race

[@Milkydrummer]

@@MichaelSchumacherfan-p8e yeah it’s very annoying. There’s also another 3 week break later in the season too I think. After a triple header!? …it’s a mess

[@dodgemf1]

Because McLaren and Sky are sharing a sponsor to remove any doubt that they are just a PR machine for the papaya clan.

[@Milkydrummer]

@@dodgemf1 sure. Okay mate. 👍🏻

[@d.b.cooper1]

Meh F1 fans will never be happy. On one hand outraged cause of a 3/4 week break...then also outraged cause 'poor team members travel so much' lol. Personally, it is what it is. Calenders are complex things to put together, globally depends on weather/seasons in host countries & often biggest thing is funding via governments...who only want certain key dates to boost the economic impact. Hence why Canada gp always stands out as odd, local govt only agrees to 1 date. So you either drop Canada or agree to it & build calender around it.

[@freddiefreihofer7716]

Liam unfortunately did not have a shot at a good seat outside of VCaRB, so in a sense it's very fortunate for him that VCarRB and Helmut chose him

[@hamza-chaudhry]

0:20 3:02 3:26 5:03 5:40 13:18 14:40 20:24 21:46 22:05 30:00 37:00 39:14 Misc: 10:00 Sta: 10:31 15:34 Sta (Seb): ****10:58** **11:34**** Ver: ****10:58** (**10:31**)** Discord: 39:50

[@ChrisET]

I couldn't disagree more that F1 is brutal compared to other professional sport. Most sports your selection can be only a matter of one or two performances and you can be replaced. F1 by the nature of the season generally give drivers multiple races or seasons before deciding they aren't the right fit. Ricciardo has had a good amount of time to prove himself at RB and hasn't been able to out perform his team mate so he can't expect to be retained.

[@Samuel-gc6js]

18:52 spot on. I think. TSU is actually a great driver. He'll probably get dropped when Honda move to Aston as it is Honda that has made sure he's in that seat

[@aja4191]

DR came across as a lovely guy in F1 & negotiated some good contracts for himself. His problems are he needs the car to be perfect & not willing to drive around probs & give 100% plus. He will drive in other championships.

[@shaunmckenna1923]

I would have loved to see Yuki Tsunoda move to another team and kick ass Red Bull are blind at times in the last 2 seasons he has come on so much. Well done Anthony Davidson for speaking up for Yuki.

[@gerardcrabb4556]

Horner left the door open for return if Perez and Lawson don't perform...

[@buttercupstruelove340]

If Lawson performs on par with Ricciardo at RB and can't beat or match Tsunoda, they still won't bring back Ricciardo because Lawson will be contracted to do the job for far less money.

[@shimtec1517]

There's a limit to playing on the grass and barriers in race veneers mode

[@Grammarlings-cf8yw]

Finally Yuki getting some proper appreciation!

[@dodgemf1]

Odd for someone who hasn't achieved anything.

[@d.b.cooper1]

Really? This whole thing just shows how little he's rated by Redbull that he's never considered for the seat. They expected Danny Ric to smash him, even same with rookie De Vries. Lawson has & will do that again. You're only as good as your team mate. Colapinto showed that with Albon who looked like a god against Sargaent. Same with Ollie Bearman against 12 year veteran Hulk. Yuki sadly has just never been good enough.

[@Grammarlings-cf8yw]

@@d.b.cooper1 yeah RB underrate him, but that doesn't mean it's for good reasons.

[@Grammarlings-cf8yw]

@@dodgemf1 "Melbourne" I wonder what your axe to grind might be

[@d.b.cooper1]

@@Grammarlings-cf8yw Maybe, but they also didn't rate Gasly who dominated Yuki. Not like Yuki hasn't had the chance stand out, it's been very meh. Could've deffo dominated Danny Ric far more given how shot his confidence was. But I also agree he wouldn't get promoted no matter what. Honda is what got him into F1. But now it's also what keeps him out. They have no reason as he's never truly been deemed their driver

[@captaintoyota3171]

As Red Bull fan since early days its rough watching them implode after Didi passed. When they could go to 1 man for what they wanted it was easier for bewey etc.

[@Viperrm64]

Really Sky!!! Your still going on about Danni Ric!!! Nothing else happening I guess, glad Rachel is ok though.

[@DD5LP]

Hate the Dropbox spoken ads in the middle of a discussion.

[@SimonDanson]

Lets hope Rachel has developed strong and healthy T and B cells to protect her insides. Obviously millions of people live long and healthy lives without their appendices but I wouldn't want to do without mine unless I had to. I just find it slightly irritating that people (jokingly) say perhaps they should all have their appendix out without having a clue what a T cell is. We had the same problem during covid when people made illogical statements about vaccinations and their effect on T(reg) cells.

[@commentator3837]

Ant was still wrong with using teraflop when measuring data size

[@urbanstrencan]

Ricardo dropped is just RedBull doing RedBull stuff, 😢 sad to see him go, but hopefully he will go racing in WEC or Nascar ❤❤ Great podcast episode

[@philsreef746]

About time. A few wins at Red Bull, a failure at Renault, lucky at Monza in the McLaren and a failure at his last team. Sorry can’t remember what team that was as its changed its name more times than I’ve just hot dinners.

[@Nerfmeister42]

Yuki sadly doesn’t have the financial backing and is only there till Honda is not RB anymore.

[@dodgemf1]

Or the emotional intelligence

[@ericrossoni]

That pundit is so right. Yuki gets over looked so much and even when he’s brought up why he doesn’t get a chance at RedBull, they move on and change the topic. Poor Yuki! He’s shown he’s truly worth it!

[@dodgemf1]

Please point to any result showing Tsunoda deserves a seat?

[@RabidJohn]

The really odd thing about the last couple of seasons is that Red Bull has not been its usual brutally ruthless self while managing its driver line-up. It's a shitty way to deal with someone like Daniel Ricciardo, but it's also a partial return to form. Only partial because Perez is still there...

[@David-vz5hg]

AD , what advice would you give DR , indy maybe?

[@philsreef746]

Retirement.

[@sej8806]

Lewis Hamilton frequently depresses me too. The most sanctimonious driver ever. Where have the James Hunt’s of this world gone?

[@tescr500]

Ride motorcycles this will teach you to adapt to different types. All 2 wheels but you naturally adapt or I do. Same with very car I've driven, you soon find it's limits

[@samf1500]

Has there ever been someone as good as Ricciardo who has seen such a drop off in performance in their early 30s? It's odd, he was quick at Red Bull and did very well at Renault.... You can't blame new regs/cars, as he was very poor in 2021... Has to be purely down to confidence

[@lucianboros8081]

Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Pedro Diniz, Jos Verstappen.

[@tescr500]

you never know who's suffering and that's the issue. Some like my ex mother in law will be ignorant. But sadly she got cancer but did say she now understands what I go through. Obviously I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But thankfully we are understanding anxiety and depression. I've suffered anxiety since school but its taken so long to recognise. I'm no snowflake infact its made me tough. But no one deserves to experience the anxiety and depression but more so in cases anxiety

[@nitrodizon]

has rachel brookes ever driven in any race ever?if not why did we need to hear her opinion?

[@chrisorr3919]

Yuki beating everyone but not good enough? Hope he goes to Aston Martin to replace stroll in 2026

[@samf1500]

Yuki got smashed by Gasly

[@blueguy12345]

He didn't beat everyone. He barely outperformed Danny Ric. Please come back to us in the real world.

[@alsayedfakhri4597]

​@@blueguy12345 doesn't Yuki have double the points? 🤣

[@blueguy12345]

Yuki in 12th with 22 points and Dany Ric in 14th with 12 points. Almost double yes. But the comment says he beat everyone... So no that is factually wrong. He is 12th in the standings so that's not beating everyone, not even close. And that's barely beating Danny Ric, only 2 position ahead...

[@alsayedfakhri4597]

@@blueguy12345 he's quite clearly referring to Yuki's teammates, no need to be so obtuse. 2 positions ahead in the same car is pretty significant!?

[@offcourse9241]

Rachel Brookes is very good.

[@big_lu32]

But yet Lewis is still dealing with this unfortunately from his own team. This past race he spoke up about the tires and they didn't listen to him smh. Why would you want to speak up if your own team won't listen to you.

[@techtipsuk]

Can’t be a privileged multimillionaire sports star in 2024 without having a battle with mental health.

[@christopherboyle1479]

What does Red Bull do if Lawson does no better against Yuki than Daniel?

[@DiscoStu65-sj6pu]

Marko has already put the feelers out for Colapinto 😂

[@handsolo1209]

Wow, 40 minutes to say "Lawson's contract would be dissolved if they didn't give him the seat."

[@seattleraf]

Finally a level headed podcast on this topic. Thank you! Agreed on all points pretty much.

[@daraghmorrissey]

he was done but it was very shabby and unnecessary how they treated him. I know they are paid millions but why not come out and say this is his last race so people can say goodbye.

[@buttercupstruelove340]

It seems like Red Bull just doesn't feel obligated to give drivers that sort of courtesy. It's not even meanness or vindictiveness - they aren't trying to punish Ricciardo but really don't think about it when they change drivers.

[@Edd_LShore]

Ricciardo isnt Lewis Hamilton

[@daraghmorrissey]

@@Edd_LShore that’s insightful 😎

[@Edd_LShore]

@@daraghmorrissey And yet you seem to be confused about how the F1 operates.

[@NoxioLukas]

The answer is probably as it often is: Contracts. Maybe the had their official discussion about his future set for a certain date (like summer break was for Checo) and therefore couldnt announce it, even though they already made up their mind. It sucks for Daniel but it happened and we will never know why.

[@ajrr8401]

liam dawson good choice avg 55 this season can bowl a bit also

[@abstractgroove160]

I'm not a Red Bull of Ricciardo fan but I do feel sorry for the bloke. Ricciardo might not have wiped the floor with Tsunoda, fair enough. But he's a damn sight faster than Sergio Perez, which is really all that should matter.

[@ExodiaNecross2]

What was the point off ricciardo coming back after 2022? Should off stayed away

[@captaintoyota3171]

Aparently set good lap times in redbull test day

[@ExodiaNecross2]

I still wouldn't off picked him to comeback

[@dylanmonaghan3342]

I still think he would outperform Checo and that a hill I will die on 😅

[@olivernewcombe466]

Shame for Daniel Riccardo

[@jeremysimpson-b1y]

Erm, why is Matt telling us he doesn't wanna know what 20cm feels like? Is this podcast not LGBTQIA+-(/@#$yhu friendly?

[@RichardGilbey]

Considering the cars he drove Riccardo only managed 8 wins, so were not talking about Ayrton Senna here. Riccardo was famous for a few overtakes but often it was his poor qualifying that placed him in that position, he totalled a few F1 cars and other people's F1 cars aswell, he faded in races and was just anonymous in others. After failing to increase sales of redbull in Australia He left by his own choice to join Dieter materschitz rivals Renault and Mclaren, only to return for a little tickle in junior redbull where he made Tsunoda look like Nigel Mansell at times. After its all over people will look back at a career blighted by underachievement, which is a shame as he came from an impovorished upbringing in Perth and could have done more to inspire ordinary kids around the world.

[@dylanmonaghan3342]

Only managed 8 wins? You know that those were in the Mercedes dominance era right? Still would be better than whatever the hell Checo is doing now

[@generalben]

Wow, would hate to see your review of hulkenberg then

[@RichardGilbey]

@@generalben who

[@robertstorr1680]

Passed his sell by date.

[@audreyperrin320]

I said the same he should have never left red bull he was not the same when he left just like seb

[@martyf8484]

I feel Red Bull did him wrong also. But I also feel that Daniel and his support team did not do him justice by leaving teams in the past. When you should have stayed. Just think if you would have stayed at Red Bull the first time he would be racing with a great car right now. Or if you would have stayed at mclaren. He would be racing with a great car right now. He and his team made these decisions to leave so I feel like he has made wrong decisions either by his own choice or by his team leading him in the wrong direction.

[@ProgramKiraTV]

No parc ferme Rookie sprints in the real f1 car for a show race at the end of the season. No points to championships but points toward super licenses and real data for teams about the next best driver.

[@MichaelCuthbertson-zl6in]

Sergio has cost RB the Manufacturer's Championship!! They must have seen that coming many races ago!

[@FredericLaurent-p8v]

Anthony is so smart.

[@peterrobinson3440]

Kudos to LH for talking about mental health...but....there is a huge difference between someone with such huge financial resources who can access the very best help available, and those of us who cannot, and for whom the mental health services are inadequate. One can talk about it all one likes but that is not the solution to the problem/s. Hopefully people like LH talking about it brings more political focus on the need for more comprehensive services for those in need and who do not have large bank accounts.

[@polska4968]

when is stroll going to be kicked out of F1 is the main question

[@philsreef746]

When Daddy Stroll”s money runs out.

[@d.b.cooper1]

I like Lewis, but odd he randomly brought up mental health now. In the world of PR people always do that when they feel threanted....the Diddy party links for Lewis aren't a good look. Espeiclaly for a guy who everyone for years has known is the king of the NDA. Huge fan since his Mclaren days, I hope Lewis doesn't get pulled into a scandal....which given his social circle for 10+ years....is more than likely.

[@RastadasPT]

Because it's best for RB to be known for destroying Drivers' careers than all the other "legal" troubles.

[@RexWestley]

He's starting off the back. Should do ok!

[@billybrennan4730]

Daniel should of got the send off he deserved for what he did achieve in f1 because let’s be honest everyone knew that was his last race, yuki also deserves far more credit when it comes to a main red bull seat but i feel his personality and unpredictable outbursts in the car makes Christian and helmut stay far away

[@spooogey8417]

If Danny is that bad, then RB is right about Yuki. He’s not good enough. It’s a smart call by the business, but the way they went about it was outright disgusting.

[@offcourse9241]

So, if Yuki beats Lawson...........................................................................................and Redbull dcon't...? Would Sauber? Having said that, Yuki should wait for Aston!

[@carobahena6134]

What I dont understand from RB is that they know, and everyone knows, that ANY driver, literally, would do a better job than perez. Nevertheless Horner doesn’t make the switch. Why ? ……. $$$$$

[@TyresePeoples]

1:01 pause

[@Malmoe4]

I was searching for comments on this hahahahahaha

[@Malmoe4]

Focus on Anthony Davidson's face 😂

[@herewegoagain7403]

10:18 just shows how adaptable young drivers are. DR had a good decade+ run, time to go tho

[@TheMega98765]

Anthony Davidson has hit in on the head with Yuki Tsunoda. The interview with Horner was very lacklustre. Yuki must have a shout at this point, he is the most capable currently in the Red Bull stable.

[@DrMrWalrus]

Well, except for Max

[@kevinn1158]

I would have just thrown Danny into the deep end at Redbull again. I really don't think he could be worse than Checo. Put Liam into the RB and hopefully he gets up t speed and you can evaluate both drivers. If Danny fell flat, Liam could move into the Redbull car. As for Checo, he has proven he's not good enough.

[@Edd_LShore]

For sure he couldve been worse than Perez. For sure

[@kevinn1158]

@@Edd_LShore no way. Redbull would have been better off keeping Alex or Pierre as well.

[@Edd_LShore]

@@kevinn1158 they are not Ricciardo, arent they?

[@kevinn1158]

@@Edd_LShore all 3 of them would be better than Checo. Guaranteed.

[@Edd_LShore]

@@kevinn1158 not Ricciardo. There are no reasons to believe that other than being a fanboy

[@terance9551]

It's really hard to trust your 'journalism' or insights. It's easy to see you mates with all the F1 folks and hard to believe that you not bias or only mentioning what's been 'approved' by F1. I do appreciate all your work and the year long slog that you committed to. I just wish for a commentary that is separate from the 'family of F1.' Wishing for a send off for a driver simply shows its to personal for you and thus its hard to see your reporting as honest.

[@sspacegghost]

Dan, was good as a junior, never a pole position win from the front guy, always a quali fourth win. always. formula renault onwards he got a tiny bit better each race over the season being a race winner in the last races....always. Wasnt at all a cut above Kyviatt and the Beumi era...was just a tiny bit better at times. infact kind of knifed Kyviatt on his exit. the RB made Dan look way better than he was. The braking of that car was exceptional. When Dan went to McL landos data was better than Dans, proving Dan wasn't the last of the late brakers at all. Lando lapped Dan on his fav track in same gear. When at Renault it looked like he might of been partying a bit away from the track and that killer edge went missing there. The peasant comment somehow he got away with. Horner threw him a favour, to cheer him up, and Dan didn't take his chance and shine, coz the sim kids are a step up, on Dans era. His time is over...

[@big_lu32]

Not for nothing i hope Yuki beats out Liam as well. Like they said Yuki keeps getting over looked, and it's not fair to him.

[@wesmanpipes9430]

Yuki doesn't seem to have a stable mentality. He always seems to be about to breakdown. That is with not a lot of pressure in the junior team.

[@buttercupstruelove340]

Maybe a miracle will occur and Lance Stroll will decide to retire from F1. That opens up a seat for Tsunoda in a Honda-powered car in 2026.

[@big_lu32]

@wesmanpipes9430 if you were on the rb junior team for as long as him andhad ppl come in with the potential for the rb team seat, and your never in the conversation I'm sure you would have a lot of frustration built up as well.

[@wesmanpipes9430]

@@big_lu32 If he thinks he's worthy of a top seat, he can leave and test his prospects like Carlos did. Whining and throwing tantrums on the radio will not get him the seat. One of the only reasons he has one still is his Honda backing and that will change with Ford joining a RB.

[@Max_Flashheart]

Yuki has always been rapidly fast so beating him is no joke. Yuki should be a lot faster after 4 hours in F1 in that car. But Liam is adaptable and is a hard but fair racer. So it will be an interesting battle. I hope VCarb have properly sorted their starts now. Poor starts and bad strategy have really hurt the team and drivers.

[@audreyperrin320]

I am not a Lewis fan but I know how he feels he should not have been bullied and there is no place to go with menrhel health

[@olivernewcombe466]

Can't wait for the race in Austin US should be a great race 🎉🎉 between max and Lando for the championship

[@artadhyay5462]

Lewis and Fernando adapting to cars is fair?! No, it isn’t. I think recency bias is making you forget what Fernando was like from 2015-18 and what Lewis was in 2011 and from 2022-24. They didn’t“outperformed” the car. Every driver has off seasons, just admit it and stop random comparisons. 😂

[@Anthony-z7b3v]

It amazes me how long Lewis has carried on in f1. Also Fernando. It must be very tiring. What you need to remember is ! Lewis isn’t the only driver who suffers from depression, I bet most of them do.

[@kiwi335d]

Obviously, if you watched the F1 races over the past few years, it should be obvious that Daniel had lost his competitive edge compared to expectations for a driver of his reputation. This is very unfortunate for Daniel, however don’t feel sorry for Daniel because he had some wonderful results over his career, he leaves the sport with great memories, great friendships and an oversized wheelbarrow full of $$$$$$$$$. F1 is for the best of the best and when the best consistently performs well below expectations, they must be replaced by another driver who can deliver the level of performance that the F1 car is capable of. At the end of the day, F1 is a high performance based business, with many millions of dollars up for grabs by each team for points positions every race weekend. The sporting side of F1 takes a back seat to the financial success of the team these days, as like any other professional sport operating at global scale.

[@cathh3301]

Thanks Rachel for summing up exactly how we all felt that weekend. Terrible treatment for a driver who has achieved and given so much to the sport.

[@dodgemf1]

Christian Horner's annus horribilis (L) has peaked with the mismanagement of this situation. To let the decrepit Dr Marko have any influence on the team structure because he represents the 49% shareholder was a massive oversight. Seb should have replaced Helmut years ago.

[@aromaticsnail]

Yeah...more ads

[@415s30]

I don't even need to watch this, they desperately need someone to replace Perez and the rest of the season is his chance to prove he should.

[@michaelcrane2475]

Daniel made a big mistake when he left RB. He hasn't seemed as good a driver since he made that fatal move I believe.

[@raykarena4595]

I like Daniel his personality and humour but F1 is a performance based industry... If your not performing then the axe will swing