Ex-Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson believes that Daniel Ricciardo’s crash at Zandvoort last season was a “pivotal” moment that contributed to his recent departure.
Ricciardo’s career in F1 appears poised to be over amid the news last month that Liam Lawson will take his place at RB over the remaining six races of this campaign.
The Australian returned to the Red Bull stable last term and was then granted an F1 reprieve with its sister squad, then known as AlphaTauri, 10 races into the season.
However, Ricciardo was unable to impress on a consistent enough basis to convince Red Bull that he warranted his desired promotion to a drive with the parent team.
But while his axe came with him 10 points behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, Davidson is certain the clock started ticking for Ricciardo much earlier in his second stint.
Ricciardo’s comeback in 2022 spanned two rounds until a collision in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix saw him break his metacarpal and sidelined him for five events.
Davidson has highlighted that Lawson having the chance to string together an excellent cameo run gave him the leverage to pressure Red Bull over a permanent seat.
“I think that the crash that Ricciardo suffered in Zandvoort last year, at Turn 3, you know, any driver will kick themselves after any incident, no matter how lightly you get away with it,” Davidson told the Sky F1 podcast.
“But I think that moment was really pivotal to Daniel’s future at the team, and his existence in Formula 1 as a whole, because it allowed a young driver, hungry, snapping at his heels, that chance to get behind the wheel.
“Like we’ve seen with [Franco] Colapinto, you give these young drivers a sniff of a chance, in desperation they deliver, and, my goodness, they’re fun to watch.
“That’s exactly what we have with Lawson, and since then, he’s probably been pestering Helmut Marko [Red Bull advisor], pestering, pestering,
‘See the job I did? I can do better than that. Put me back in the car, otherwise I’m off!’”
Sauber interest applied pressure on Red Bull
Lawson was reported to have been on Sauber’s radar as it prepares to morph into a works Audi setup had Red Bull not provided Lawson with a place within its teams.
Davidson suspects the acknowledgement that it could lose Lawson to an F1 rival applied pressure on Red Bull to side with the cutthroat decision that has been made.
“I feel like, if it wasn’t now for Ricciardo, moving him aside now for Lawson, I fear that, for their sake, they would have lost him,” he added.
“They would have lost Lawson to another team, maybe Audi. Who knows? Somebody – he needed to go somewhere. And I think Red Bull could sense that.
“It’s a brutal sport. Who’s the future? Is it Ricciardo or is it Lawson? Well, unfortunately for Ricciardo, Lawson’s younger than him, so it’s just a game of numbers.”
