Daniel Ricciardo finally lost his F1 seat with VCARB on Thursday after weeks of speculation linking him with an exit. At the age of 35, Max Verstappen’s former Red Bull team-mate looks unlikely to ever race in F1 again, with Liam Lawson replacing him for the final six Grands Prix of the season.

Ricciardo helped Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday after clocking the fastest lap ahead of race winner Lando Norris to deny the McLaren man a bonus point.

Norris continues to heap pressure of Verstappen at the top of the Drivers’ Championship leaderboard, with Red Bull going off the boil in recent months.

Verstappen was way ahead of the chasing pack in the summer after winning seven of the opening 10 races.

But McLaren have found a winning formula, with Norris now only 52 points adrift of the Dutchman in the Drivers’ Championship standings. And McLaren have risen to the top of the Constructors’ Championship standings.

Marko speaks out on reason behind Ricciardo exit

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes that Daniel Ricciardo lost his ‘killer instinct’ whilst at RB, which contributed to his exit earlier this week.

Liam Lawson has now stepped in to join forced with Yuki Tsunoda for the remaining six races of the season, and Marko has shed a light on the decision.

He said: “I don’t know what exactly happened, because if we knew, we would have helped him. But the speed and, above all, this late braking, and then he goes left or right… in these last few years he tried but it was no longer there, the killer instinct was gone.”