Ricciardo Reflects on Abrupt End to F1 Career

Former Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on the abrupt end to his 14-year career, expressing gratitude to Racing Bulls for deciding to part ways with him after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, a choice he said he struggled to make on his own. In a candid interview on the DRIVE podcast with Ford CEO Jim Farley, the 36-year-old Australian detailed the emotional exhaustion that preceded his exit and acknowledged a decline in his performance that made top-level competition increasingly difficult.

Ricciardo's departure from Racing Bulls came with six races left in the season, following a mid-2023 return to the Red Bull family after being released by McLaren at the end of 2022. That earlier exit marked the second time in two years he had been let go, a sequence that left him drained after investing deeply in the sport. "Ultimately, I got let go," Ricciardo told Farley. "That was the reality at the time. I'd been let go twice in the last two years, and it had also taken a lot out of me. I'd put a lot of my soul into it. I was pretty exhausted by it."

Looking back, Ricciardo described a gradual realization that his edge had dulled. He noted drivers like Fernando Alonso, now...