Daniel Ricciardo

Former Ricciardo boss opens up on 'overthinking' star

Daniel Ricciardo was sacked by VCARB midway through the 2024 season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 12 January 2025 21:00

Daniel Ricciardo's former VCARB Formula 1 boss Alan Permane has opened up on conversations with the star driver.

The popular Australian was cut from the team mid-season, getting replaced by fellow antipodean Liam Lawson after falling short of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda's performance level.

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It was the second time in the Australian's career that he had been axed, having been released early from his McLaren contract at the end of the 2022 season and replaced by Oscar Piastri.

A second F1 axing at VCARB has probably led to an end to his career in the sport, stating recently that he was 'done' when asked about rumours linking him to a move to the new Cadillac outfit.

Daniel Ricciardo was axed by VCARB in 2024

Daniel Ricciardo was replaced by Liam Lawson

Why was Ricciardo sacked from F1?

Ricciardo is an eight-time grand prix winner, and scored 32 podium finishes across 14 seasons in the sport.

"Honestly no," Permane told Autosport when asked if they knew why Ricciardo struggled so much with the team's 2024 car.

"I don’t know and he doesn’t either. We sat down and talked, tried to figure it out. I was certainly worried that he was overthinking things - he was concerned about the tyres, that they couldn’t cope with the speed he would be asking of them.

"It felt like he was using his huge experience to second-guess things that potentially weren’t correct, because Yuki wasn’t and he was driving as quick as he could and it was working."

Daniel Ricciardo F1 Yuki Tsunoda Liam Lawson Alan Permane