Ricciardo revelation when 'world collapsed' ahead of F1 exit

RB CEO Peter Bayer has explained why Daniel Ricciardo's F1 departure was not announced ahead of his final race with the team.

The Singapore Grand Prix was the 35-year-old's last before being replaced by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the season.

He is not expected to return next year, and Bayer has since confirmed it was the Australian's desire for the news to not be communicated until after the weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Whilst it was eventually confirmed the following Friday, it was already well-established as the round in Singapore progressed.

Bayer revealed that RB knew it would look "outdated" in its approach, but that the team acted to "protect" Ricciardo and honour his wishes.

“We had agreed with Daniel that we would not communicate it,” the Austrian told Auto Motor und Sport.

“We knew that we would look a bit outdated as a team. But we also did it to protect the driver. It was his wish.

“He believed right to the end that he would finish at the front in qualifying and show everyone. I’ve never seen such mental strength in an athlete. And I’ve been in a lot of sports."

Ricciardo made call to hold off RB exit confirmation

Ricciardo ultimately failed to make it out of the first part of qualifying, consigning him to his fate, something Bayer reflected on.

“It was a terrible moment when he exited in Q1,” he said. “You could already hear on the radio that his world had collapsed.

However, despite the inevitable position the eight-time grand prix winner found himself in, he opted to hold off the announcement until after the race.

“We then spoke to him again on Saturday. We sat together in our office at two o’clock in the morning and asked him what we should do now," Bayer stated.

“He then told us that we should just let him drive the race. He just didn’t want any nonsense.”

RB was widely and openly criticised for its handling of the situation, but Bayer was adamant it would have given Ricciardo a proper send off had things been different.

“As a team, we put ourselves in front of him,” he conceded when discussing the decision to drop Ricciardo mid-season.

“If Daniel had driven all the way to Abu Dhabi, then of course we would have celebrated his farewell with fireworks and a photo on the grid, just like [Kimi] Räikkönen back then. “That’s what everyone would have wanted.”