After months of speculations and whispering in the paddock, Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by Red Bull's sister team RB following the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago.

As announced at the same time, his seat will take young New Zealander, Liam Lawson, stepping in for the final six races of the 2024 season, starting from the United States Grand Prix, which will take place in Austin, Texas in less than three weeks.

With Ricciardo not being very likely to secure a seat elsewhere in Formula 1 next year, this is probably the end of his 13-year-long career. 

Even though there has been some criticism of Red Bull for not letting Ricciardo finish the season, the team principal Christian Horner has now shared new details about the challenge he faced in keeping Ricciardo in the team until at least the weekend in Singapore.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast after the driver changes, Horner explained that Ricciardo’s departure was due to inconsistent performance, which had already tested Helmut Marko’s patience earlier in the year.

“He [Ricciardo] started the season roughly, and then Miami was a weekend of two halves,” said Horner.

“The Friday and Saturday morning was fantastic, and it looked like the Daniel of old defending against the Ferraris and outdriving the car. But then the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday were disastrous.

“So even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car, and there was already a lot of pressure on him there.

“I've done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver. Otherwise, he would have been out of the car after Barcelona,” he added.

Ricciardo’s racing future remains uncertain, with the only thing he’s made clear being that he doesn’t want to return as an F1 reserve driver for Red Bull.