Brundle "will be relieved when this pain is over" for Ricciardo

Ricciardo did not answer yes or no to whether he would be leaving F1 after this weekend's race in Singapore, and team principal Laurent Mekies further generated mystery by not ruling out the potential driver swap and admitting that there would be a discussion after this weekend's race in Singapore. There is a three-week gap between the Singapore Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix, and many indications point to Ricciardo being replaced during that time.

Brundle has his say on the situation

Former F1 driver Brundle was asked about this situation, and he first spoke about how much he regards the Australian, as well as unpacking the tough few years that Ricciardo has had in the world of F1 to the Sky Sports cameras: "I have the highest respect for him as a Formula 1 racer and as a person. Some of his race victories, any driver in the 74-year history of Formula 1 would like them on their CV. I’ll be slightly relieved when this pain is over for him, if I’m honest, when the moment finally comes down the road. Because McLaren chose to pay him not to race the car. It’s just been so uncomfortable and undignified in some respects."

Of course, the McLaren tenure for Ricciardo was a very tricky period, and since coming back to F1 and replacing Nyck de Vries halfway through the 2023 season, there have not been too many world-class performances like the young Ricciardo from Red Bull. He has only scored 12 points so far in 2024, ten less than his current teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Brundle also had his say on the rumours of Lawson getting another shot in the world of F1 after he replaced an injured Ricciardo in 2023: "This is a fashion business, and it will be fashionable to put young drivers in again now for a while. It seems to be now the time to build for the future and now is the time to do it. You don’t want to be introducing youngsters into the team in 2026 when there’s this change of chassis and power unit coming."