Daniel Ricciardo replaced at RB by Liam Lawson for remainder of 2024 F1 season

Liam Lawson will take over for Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull for the rest of the 2024 season.

The 35-year-old racer from Australia has been let go with just six races remaining due to Red Bull management's dissatisfaction with his performance.

By letting Lawson take the seat, they can evaluate his performance in the upcoming races before Red Bull makes its final decisions for 2025.

RB team leader Laurent Mekies expressed: "Daniel has contributed immense experience and skill to the team, along with a great mindset that has encouraged everyone to grow and strengthen our team unity."

"He has consistently shown himself to be a true sportsman, both during races and in his personal life, always with a warm smile on his face. While we will certainly miss him, he will forever be a cherished member of the Red Bull family."

Last season, Lawson, who is 22 years old, stepped in to race five times after Ricciardo from Australia suffered a wrist injury in a crash during the Dutch Grand Prix.

The athlete from New Zealand earned two points by finishing ninth in the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

Mekies mentioned, "Liam raced for us last year and managed to handle tough situations effectively, so this will be a smooth shift."

RB's announcement didn't include any details about their 2025 roster. Yuki Tsunoda from Japan is already confirmed for a seat, but the team has yet to reveal who will be joining him as a teammate.

Ricciardo's cheerful personality and funny nature have established him as one of the most beloved figures in Formula 1 over his 13-year career.

For a span of seven seasons, between 2014 and 2020, he was regarded as one of the top racers in the sport.

He moved up to the Red Bull team from the junior ranks in 2014 and excelled in his debut season, achieving three victories while four-time champion Sebastian Vettel did not win any.

These were the first of seven remarkable victories during his five-year tenure with Red Bull, a period when Mercedes was the dominant force in the sport. Many of these wins came from daring last-minute overtaking moves, which soon became Daniel Ricciardo's signature style.

However, Ricciardo's career started to take a downward turn after he made the choice to part ways with Red Bull at the conclusion of 2018.

Ricciardo sensed that the team was rallying around his fellow driver Max Verstappen, who had moved up from the junior squad in 2016 and clinched victory in his first race in Spain.

Verstappen steadily established his dominance over Ricciardo, who realized there was little chance for him to change the situation as management increasingly favored the Dutch driver.

Ricciardo chose to accept a tempting deal from Renault, which paid him $55 million for two seasons in 2019 and 2020, with the expectation that he could establish a promising future with the French team.

He continued to deliver impressive performances, surpassing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in 2019 and then Esteban Ocon in 2020, before making his switch to McLaren for the 2021 season.

That change marked the start of Ricciardo's decline. Even though he claimed his last win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, his teammate Lando Norris consistently outshone him throughout the season.

As the trend persisted and intensified in 2022, McLaren chose to let go of Ricciardo in favor of fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri at the season's conclusion, a full year before his contract was set to end.

Ricciardo received a second chance when Red Bull named him their reserve driver for 2023. Later, during the previous season, he was elevated to a racing position at their sister team, stepping in for Nyck de Vries from the Netherlands.

At that moment, Red Bull believed that Ricciardo might be a viable option to take over Sergio Perez's spot alongside Verstappen in the primary team.

Overall, Ricciardo has not matched Tsunoda's performance, which has significantly diminished his chances of making a comeback to Red Bull.

In his last significant act, he assisted Verstappen by achieving the fastest lap during last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, preventing Lando Norris, who is competing for the title, from earning an additional point.

Lawson's advancement gives him the opportunity to assert his position for a future with Red Bull, whether that be with the RB team or in the main team.

Perez faced significant pressure regarding his performance, both throughout the previous year and following a lackluster start to this season.

During this summer break, Red Bull contemplated letting go of the Mexican driver for the remainder of the season. However, they decided to keep Perez on board due to the potential risks associated with making any other changes.

Perez's ongoing difficulties have cast doubt on his job security, even though he signed a new contract in May that extends through the end of 2026.

It's likely that Lawson will continue as a race driver for 2025, and he now has the chance to position himself as a candidate for a potential promotion to the main team down the line.

Formula 1 is taking a break for four weeks before the last six races of the 2024 season. The next event on the calendar will be the US Grand Prix, set to take place in Austin, Texas, from October 18 to 20.