- Daniel Ricciardo likely competed in his final race at the Singapore Grand Prix
- The Australian is expected to be replaced by Liam Lawson shortly
- A photographer has revealed what happened after Sunday’s race
The details surrounding Daniel Ricciardo’s emotional lap of honour following the Singapore Grand Prix have been revealed by a photographer inside the Formula One paddock.
Ricciardo, 35, is understood to have held a secret 10-minute chat with former McLaren teammate and championship hopeful Lando Norris in scenes that were reportedly captured by Netflix’s Drive to Survive cameras.
Emotions were high at Marina Bay on Sunday amid widespread speculation that fan-favourite Ricciardo will lose his seat with RB before the next Grand Prix in the United States. Young Kiwi driver Liam Lawson is expected to replace him.
Ricciardo went out on a high, though, setting the fastest lap of the race in what could prove pivotal in great mate Max Verstappen’s pursuit of a fourth world title.
The Australian fronted the cameras after the race and was overcome with emotion as he contemplated what was likely his final race in Formula One.
And paddock photographer Kym Illman detailed Ricciardo’s movements on a humid night in Singapore.
On his YouTube channel, Illman said via Planet F1: ‘At 1:46am on September 23, Daniel Ricciardo exited the F1 paddock for the last time as an F1 driver.
‘The whole night was something bizarre and heartbreaking, F1 farewelling [sic] a driver who has not yet been announced as officially leaving.
The details of Daniel Ricciardo’s farewell from the Formula One paddock have been revealed
‘Speculation? Nope. Daniel was in no doubt of his future and neither was the rest of the paddock. There were plenty of tears.
‘[He was] voted Driver of the Day. Sentimental vote? People knew that he was leaving the sport, they wanted to reward him with that.
‘After the race he sat in his car for some time, soaking up what he knew was his last race.
‘He stayed for probably one of the longest sessions I’ve ever encountered with a driver in the media pen. He talked to every single person that wanted to speak to him and sometimes for 15 minutes.
‘He was happy and smiley for most of those interviews, that’s his nature, but in some interviews he was close to tears.
‘He walked back to the hospitality suite and there was a guard of honour either side and they all clapped him as he came in. He was fist bumping and high fiving people and then he was behind closed doors for quite some time.’
Illman then lifted the lid on Ricciardo and Norris’s heart-to-heart.
‘Just after midnight, Lando Norris came down to see Daniel,’ he said. ‘They caught up behind closed doors in the back of the VCARB garage.
‘Was there any media in there? Yeah, Netflix.
A photographer claims Ricciardo had a secret 10-minute meeting with Lando Norris
The pair were teammates at McLaren and have remained close friends
‘If they weren’t in there, they were very close and I imagine this will be a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking episode to watch come next year.
‘About 10 minutes later, Lando came out and left the paddock. At that point, that left Daniel as the only driver, as far as I could tell, still left in the paddock. And this is getting quite late.
‘Yuki [Tsunoda] went into the garage, Laurent Mekies [VCARB team principal] went into the garage and they both came out.
‘And then eventually Daniel too emerged with his manager Blake and went back into the hospitality suite.
‘More hugs, more tears and then it was upstairs for a time – and a long time. At that point, I got the feeling that Daniel just didn’t want to leave.
‘Maybe he had a late flight, I couldn’t tell you exactly, but it was a bizarre thing to witness what was going on to a lovely fella.
‘When he finally came down, he popped out to the kitchen to say ‘thank you’ to the crew out there and walked out to where we were standing.’