Daniel Ricciardo last driver to leave Singapore GP paddock as he allegedly bids emotional farewell from F1

Daniel Ricciardo was reportedly the last driver to leave the Paddock at the 2024 F1 Singapore Grand Prix. The race was speculated to be his last drive with VCARB after a series of underperforming events.

The Australian returned to a permanent seat with VCARB last season (then called AlphaTauri) replacing Nyck de Vries on the team. Later, he was given an extension till the end of the 2024 F1 season to partner Yuki Tsunoda. However, his performances have been under the scanner. He has only managed to finish in the points thrice so far in the entire season, which has reportedly led the team to decide to replace him mid-season.

With the speculations flying around the paddock, a disappointing race at Singapore was met with an emotional end for Ricciardo. Running at the bottom of the grid, the team called him into the pits at the end of the race, fitting fresh softs which allowed him to claim the fastest lap of the race. They also gave him a guard of honor later.

F1 photographer Kym Illman claimed in a video that Daniel Ricciardo was the last driver to leave the paddock in Singapore. He revealed that the 35-year-old had been hugging everyone as speculations of his replacement grew.

"We are saying goodbye to Daniel Ricciardo and what we’ve seen here tonight has been quite remarkable. Daniel has been hugging everybody. People have been coming up to him saying how much of a treasure he is for Formula 1."

"He must be the last driver in this paddock. I don't think he wants to leave!" he claimed.

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"I have to acknowledge that" - Daniel Ricciardo on possibility of Singapore GP being his final 2024 race

Red Bull's junior driver Liam Lawson is speculated to replace Ricciardo at VCARB in the final six races of the season. He replaced the Australian for five races in 2023 after an injury took him out of the competition temporarily.

Daniel Ricciardo was visibly under the emotional burden of the possibility of his replacement after the race. He was seen sitting in his cockpit for a long time after stopping.

Talking to the media after the race, Ricciardo addressed the rumors, saying:

"Possibly, I have to acknowledge that. It’s been a little bit of a race-by-race situation and I would have obviously loved the weekend to have gone better. It didn’t, so I have to prepared for this maybe being it."

"I do feel, let’s say, at peace with it," Ricciardo added. "At some point, it’ll come for all of us. I think also, I tried to get back into Red Bull, it didn’t work out, so then I also have to say, ‘Okay, what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?’ Let’s say maybe the fairytale ending didn’t happen, but I also have to look back on what it’s been. Fourteen or so years and I’m proud."

Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season and signed by Red Bull as their third driver. As mentioned, he then replaced De Vries at VCARB (then called AlphaTauri).