Daniel Ricciardo receives F1 BOOST in surprise decision

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB, Visa, RB, Singapore, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

GPFans F1 Awards

Ricciardo receives career BOOST in surprise F1 decision

The popular Australian was sacked by VCARB in September

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson

Tuesday 7 January 2025 21:57 Updated: 13:00

Axed VCARB star Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a major boost by F1 fans in a recent decision.

Ricciardo lost his place on the F1 grid back in September, with Red Bull swinging their brutal axe and dropping the Aussie from their junior team, Visa Cash App RB.

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Liam Lawson quickly stepped in as Ricciardo's replacement, and since then, it has been confirmed that he will now drive alongside Max Verstappen at the main Red Bull team in 2025.

Meanwhile, there is yet no news on a potential return to the sport for Ricciardo, despite his clear popularity with the fans.

Daniel Ricciardo lost his F1 seat during the 2024 season

Liam Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo and has earned a promotion to Red Bull

Ricciardo receives F1 boost

With the 2024 Formula 1 season having ended in Abu Dhabi on December 8, during the back end of the year, here at GPFans, we put together a number of categories for fans to vote on in our end of season awards.

These ranged from categories such as 'best non-champion driver' to 'best grand prix', from 'most improved team' to 'unluckiest driver'.

Now, in the very latter category, F1 fans have overwhelmingly declared Ricciardo the winner, with the Australian deemed the unluckiest driver during the 2024 season, attaining 44 per cent of the vote.

Despite F1 fans declaring Ricciardo unlucky, the former VCARB driver lost his seat after a difficult year at the team where he was consistently beaten by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, as he failed to deliver significant points for the team.

Ricciardo is GPFans' unluckiest driver in 2024

The next driver in terms of percentage was Valtteri Bottas with 19 per cent, with Carlos Sainz also coming in close at 18 per cent having lost his seat at Ferrari.

VCARB driver and former Ricciardo team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was also deemed unlucky in 2024, achieving 16 per cent of the vote having been overlooked for a promotion to Red Bull.

Williams driver Alex Albon was the other driver to feature in the poll but achieved just three per cent of the fan vote.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo Aston Martin Liam Lawson