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SINGAPORE — Beneath the lights of Marina Bay, Lando Norris was merely untouchable.
Usually lapping 1.5 seconds faster than Max Verstappen, his Method One championship rival, Norris by no means regarded for a second like he’d lose the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris was poised to document his first profession ‘grand slam,’ scoring victory from pole place, main your entire race (on his eighth try from pole, he managed to retain the lead on the opening lap) and setting the quickest lap.
His benchmark of 1:34.925s was so fast that, after he set it, his race engineer urged he take a drink and handle his tempo. Two glances of the wall supplied transient scares. Kevin Magnussen had gone faster on recent softs, just for his time to be deleted for monitor limits. The quickest lap bonus level, so vital within the title race, was Norris’ to lose.
After which Daniel Ricciardo got here alongside.
In what might effectively be his remaining act as an F1 driver, Ricciardo pitted late to suit recent smooth tires and, in clear air, go half a second faster than Norris on the race’s penultimate lap.
Ricciardo had been approach again in 18th, working second to final. There was nothing for him or his group, RB, to realize by pitting for recent softs and going for the quickest lap. The bonus level solely counts if you happen to end inside the highest 10.
Nevertheless it would assist Max Verstappen and Pink Bull Racing, RB’s senior group. By denying Norris the bonus level, Verstappen’s championship lead dropped to 52 factors as a substitute of 51. Verstappen was shortly informed on the radio after the race that his “outdated pal” Ricciardo had set the quickest lap, to which Verstappen replied: “Thanks, Daniel.”
Ricciardo joked that if Verstappen had been to win the title by a degree, he’d a minimum of assured himself a pleasant Christmas current.
“He can have something he desires,” stated Verstappen.
The quickest lap push instantly sparked questions over its causes, given Pink Bull and RB’s shared possession. Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, has lengthy spoken towards the follow of so-called A and B groups in F1. Now, it regarded like Pink Bull’s sister group had moved to disclaim his driver an important level within the title race.
“Given this will have been Daniel’s final race, we wished to present him the prospect to savor it and exit with the quickest lap,” RB group principal Laurent Mekies stated within the group’s post-race press launch.
Brown informed SiriusXM after the race that he would “definitely ask some questions” about what occurred and that it illustrated his considerations over sister groups working collectively. “I believe you wouldn’t have made that pit cease to go for that.”
Daniel Ricciardo driving in the course of the Singapore Grand Prix. (Clive Mason/Getty Photographs)
McLaren group principal Andrea Stella didn’t need to draw as robust a hyperlink, however admitted he discovered it “peculiar.” Norris shrugged it off, admitting there was nothing he might do. “(It’s) the logical factor to do, the good play by them,” Norris stated. “I’m joyful for Daniel, that’s all.” Toto Wolff, the Mercedes group boss, stated he didn’t assume it was “soiled tips,” however Pink Bull merely enjoying the sport as a part of the title struggle.
Christian Horner, Pink Bull’s group principal, denied any coordination between Pink Bull and RB over the quickest lap push. “Daniel clearly wished to complete the race on a excessive,” he stated. “You’d need to ask VCARB about that.” Ricciardo defined he “thought they had been simply letting me have some enjoyable as a result of we had been a great distance out of the factors.”
The rationale behind the quickest lap push apart, it was a excessive to complete on in what could possibly be the final race of Ricciardo’s F1 profession.
On a weekend that began with severe doubt over whether or not he’d be on the grid for the subsequent race in Austin (not to mention for 2025) as Liam Lawson waits to step up, Sunday’s race felt like a remaining goodbye from the eight-time grand prix winner.
The hints had been there after qualifying on Saturday when Ricciardo had dropped out in Q1 whereas teammate Yuki Tsunoda made it via to Q3. From sixteenth on the grid, at a road monitor like Singapore, getting wherever close to the factors would at all times be an enormous, large ask. Ricciardo was clearly downbeat concerning the outcome, saying it “sucks” whereas noting “all of the s— happening” round his future.
With out a security automotive for the primary time within the historical past of the Singapore Grand Prix, Ricciardo didn’t stand a lot likelihood of advancing far up the order. An early cease helped get him the undercut whereas compromising his technique. Two stops grew to become three when he pitted for the quickest lap, which is able to go down because the seventeenth of his F1 profession.
Was this actually it? The tip of the street after 13 years and greater than 250 begins? Ricciardo couldn’t say definitively after the race. Horner claims no resolution has been made and the upcoming three-week break is a “time frame the place we’ll consider the entire related performances of the drivers” throughout the Pink Bull jigsaw.
Nonetheless, Ricciardo’s physique language all through his post-race interviews and the emotion in his voice made it clear. This actually could also be it for him in F1.
Ricciardo couldn’t maintain again his feelings after the race. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Photographs)
He admitted there was a “practical likelihood” he wouldn’t be on the subsequent race in Austin and wished to absorb each single second in Singapore. “I used to be conscious perhaps that was my final race, so I attempted to get pleasure from that,” he stated. The RB group even held a guard of honor for Ricciardo exterior the motorhome after the race, simply in case it was his remaining race for the group. The considered that show having to be repeated this yr is just too awkward to ponder.
Signing off with 18th place in his remaining begin isn’t how Ricciardo would have wished his F1 profession to finish, however there was no feeling of remorse. “I’m pleased with the profession,” he stated. “I attempted to develop into world champion, I attempted to develop into the most effective at one thing on this planet. I believe it’s a tall job that we ask from ourselves. Some obtain it, some don’t.
“In the long run, if I got here up a little bit brief, I can also’t be too exhausting on myself, proud of the hassle I put in. And for that, there’s no disappointment or feeling or remorse or what might have been.”
Verstappen, Ricciardo’s teammate of virtually three years at Pink Bull, paid tribute to the Australian after the race, notably talking prior to now tense. “He’s a fantastic man, truthfully,” Verstappen stated. “We at all times had a fantastic relationship. We had a sporting rivalry within the group. He can be remembered as a fantastic driver, as a fantastic particular person additionally. He has a fantastic character. I believe it’s very uncommon if somebody hates him.
“I believe additionally in just a few years’ time, once I gained’t be right here anymore, we’ll sit again and take a look at all these years collectively and have a beer collectively.”
Fairly the reception for Danny Ric again at RB 🤜🤛#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/yn39km1ba2
— Method 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
As inevitable because it appears, a swift resolution can be greatest for everyone. The race-to-race, even session-to-session, swings throughout the Pink Bull driver setup this yr involving Ricciardo, Lawson and Sergio Pérez up on the senior group have been troublesome for all concerned, regardless of the way it could also be considered as a supply of motivation. As painful as this can be for Ricciardo, there’ll a minimum of be some decision.
The quickest lap wasn’t Ricciardo’s solely potential farewell reward. He was additionally voted ‘Driver of the Day’ by F1 followers with 20 % of the vote.
“It’s not one thing to brag about, however I believe at this time the followers learn the media and know this could possibly be my final one, so I believe that’s a very nice gesture from them and at this time it’s appreciated,” Ricciardo stated.
“I do acknowledge that — I thank them for being part of it and acknowledging my efforts and my love for the game. Clearly, there have been instances it examined me, and I wasn’t at all times grinning ear to ear.
“However I felt like I at all times tried to have as a lot enjoyable with it and go away as a lot as I might on monitor.”
If that is it for Daniel Ricciardo and F1, it’s a effective sentiment for him to complete with.
GO DEEPER
Daniel Ricciardo expects name on F1 future after Singapore amid questions on remainder of season
Prime picture: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Photographs