September 26, 2024 • 7 mins
Talking F1 on The COuntry Sport Breakfast where Daniel Ricciardo has been replaced at RB by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 season.The 35-year-old Australian has been dropped with six races to go because Red Bull management has been unconvinced by his performances.
Giving Lawson the seat allows him to be assessed over the remaining races before Red Bull finalize their plans for 2025.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Motorsport on the Country Sport Breakfast powered by CRC five
to five six made right here in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're talking Formula one now on the show where its official.
Daniel Riccardo has been replaced at Red Bull by Liam
Lawson for the remainder of the twenty twenty four season.
The thirty five year old Australian's been dropped with six
races to go because Red Bull management have been unconvinced
by his performances. Giving Liam Lawson the seat allows him
(00:30):
to be assessed over the remaining races before Red Bull
finalized their plans for next season. Joining us on the
show this morning, out of ESPN Formula one and host
of the Unlapped podcast, Nate Saunders Morning.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Nate, morning matey, going very very well.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thank you well. This is dragged on for months and
months and months here in New Zealand. Will Liam Lawson
get the drive. The announcement is due and it has
finally been made official. Are you surprised by this move by.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Our I'm not surprised by the move. I am surprised
by the handling of it. I think that's been the
big takeaway. You know, there's been this like, like you said,
this bizarre situation really where Lawson's kind of been on
the periphery of this seat for it feels like a
year since he was since he deputized to Ricardo last year,
and Red Bull just haven't really been able to make
(01:21):
their minds up. I mean, there's been you know, Ricardo
has kind of been in, he's been out, he's been in,
he's been out. If you listen to you know, you
follow the media, and yet the only people who weren't
saying whether he was categorically in or out was Red Bull.
And I returned from Singapore this week, and I've got
to tell you that was one of the weirdest weekends
I've covered for a while in terms of that story,
because even Ricardo seemed about ninety percent sure, maybe you know,
(01:44):
maybe eighty percent sure, there was still this feeling of
is he there? Is he out? I spoke to Mea
and Lawson during the week and he felt the same.
And it's not been in my situation for either of
them to be in you know, you want to know,
you want to have that cloudy. But they've plinally made
the call, and I actually think that well, the handling
has been really bad. I think that, you know, such
a great opportunity for Liam Lawson, and I actually think
(02:05):
Red Bull are looking at this in a much bigger picture.
You know, there's there's not just the RB seat they
want to evaluate him for. It's obviously the Red Bull
seat that Sergia Perez hasn't exactly got both of his
hands around at the moment as well.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Do you feel Daniel Ricardo has been hard done by
a little bit?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I think he has been. I think for a guy
as popular as Ricardo and a guy's been around that long,
I think he deserved, you know, at least, you know,
the kind of the dignity of the courtesy of a sendoff.
I thought it was strange the way they handled it.
You know, he obviously set that fastest lap with his
last lap of the race. That was made about that,
and it was just it was very bizarrely handled, and
(02:42):
I think a lot of fans wanted him to at
least have his day, you know, his you know, his race.
I think in terms of results itself, he can't really
have many complaints that just he hasn't been able to
do what Red Bull wanted him to do in that
in that team but yeah, certainly a driver like that,
a guy who won seven races with Red Bully, one
another one with McLaren a sort of career that you
(03:03):
want to cap off with a you know, with a
kind of a feel good ending, and I just feel
like he was robbed of that at the end. So
that was a shame. But obviously not Liamlwlson's fault either,
because a lot of people are kind of giving him
some grief today as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I mean for Liam, he's just been patient, He's just
been sitting there, waiting, waiting, waiting. Do you think now
for the remainder of the season, if he performs well,
he could be a front runner to secure the seat
in the main team nixt season.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I do, honestly. And I think what was telling about
the press release today was that it did not mention
twenty twenty five at all. You know, there was no
reference of, you know, Liam will be in this seat
next year, and that's not a bad thing. I think
what rebul are doing there is they're keeping their options open.
You know, Perez did sign a contract extension earlier this season,
but we know that Redbell contracts they're very easy to
tear up for the sounds of things, and so yeah,
(03:49):
I think that this is another reason why this this
decision makes sense. If you're Red Bull, you get to
evaluate Liam Mawson alongside Uti Sonoda, who, let's face it,
his great form at the start of the season is
really what put Ricardo under the microscope. So I think
that Yuki is a really good benchmark for Leam Lawson.
And if Perez GEPs performing the way he has been,
I mean, he's kind of left the door wide open
(04:11):
for McLaren in the Constructor's Championship, hasn't he. So I
think that the feeling there at Red Bull now is
if we have somebody from within the Red Bull program
that can replace him, let's do it. That's what the
company was always about. It was always about finding the
next great talent and so really exciting opportunity for me.
A lot of pressure, but you know, he'd he jumped
in last year, did me with those yeah, Feld me
(04:32):
with those five races and just did a great job.
So yeah, I'm really excited to see how he can
do because yeah, he's he's shown he's shown a lot
of good things when he has been in the race car.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You've been close to Formula one. It shows what a
cat throat world it is, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Absolutely? And I mean that and that goes back to
what you were saying about. You know, was Ricardo hard
done by? I think he was. But at the same time,
it's never been a sentimental sport, you know, And so
you know, one minute, one minute your flavor of the month,
you have the greatest thing that anyone's ever seen. In
the next min it you're kind of on the scrap peop.
So you're hopefully Liam Wilson doesn't discover that the harbway himself,
but right now he's in a good position, so yeah,
(05:07):
it's hopefully the only way is up for him. But yeah, Ricardo,
especially the last kind of six years, has found that
out the hardway, hasn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah? Absolutely. And what's going on in Rear Bull. I
mean they're losing key team members lift, right and center.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, I mean it's fascinating at the moment to watch
that team. I mean we're seeing we're kind of seeing
a team implode instead of their success. Usually it happens
at the tail end of that, doesn't it. You know,
people start saying, well, I was responsible for this and
that where Red Bull didn't even get the chance to
start bragging about the success that they were having. It's
quite remarkable. I mean, obviously, the year started with the
Christian Horner the misconduct investigation, and I think that that's
(05:45):
really upset a lot of things within the team. But
you can go back a little further to twenty twenty two.
In October that year, Diatrick Matterschett, the founder of Red Bull,
passed away, and I think there's just been a massive
power vacuum left at Red Bull now and you've got
Adrian Lewis jump ship obviously for next year to ask
to Martin. Jonathan Wheatley is on his way. He's from
Sporting Director. He's going over to the Salva team. So
(06:07):
real key cogs of that operation, and the one that
we keep monitoring is Maxis Staffham because you know there's
monsters that maybe yosters staff and wants him to go
over to to Aster Martin or to Mercedes. And you know,
I think that the way you see Red Bulls team
going at the moment, a lot of people seem to
be wanting to get out of there rather than to
join what's going on. So yeah, really remarkable and I
(06:29):
think it just shows you. I think a lot of this,
a lot of the delay and the ricarded decision was
also to do with that unease and unrest behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And the season Tonight night turning into what could be
an all time tight finished can makes the step and
hold off the fast charging McLaren of Lendo. Norris.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, Norris is making it interesting, isn't he. I mean
at the start of the year, I wouldn't have I
wouldn't have put any money on on Land, even if
a proud brit I would have said, no chance about hapening.
But yeah, it's a remarkable, remarkable turnaround. I think that
the next two races, actually, I think will be key.
You know, we have six races left, but Norris has
(07:09):
to take chunks of points out of match of the
next two races to go into that kind of final
run of races and be within the margin of error.
And you know, a Staven has a retirement, Mustavein has
a bad race. I think you can do it. I
think the McLaren car clearly is the quickest one. Now
it's just the case of whether Lander will run out
of races or not, and I feel that you might.
But I'm always an optimist. Good one night when it comes,
(07:31):
when it comes to the showdown, so hopefully we get
one again at a nice one.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, we're very proud to have a key We back
in Formula one, so thanks for joining us, mate, no as.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You should be. Thanks very much for having
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Nate's orders from me is P and yet ke We
key We now and Formula one, Liam Lawson and of
course McLaren being founded by key We Bruce McLaren as well,
leading the Manufacturer's Championship and looking strong
Motorsport on the Country Sport Breakfast powered by CRC five
to five six made right here in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're talking Formula one now on the show where its official.
Daniel Riccardo has been replaced at Red Bull by Liam
Lawson for the remainder of the twenty twenty four season.
The thirty five year old Australian's been dropped with six
races to go because Red Bull management have been unconvinced
by his performances. Giving Liam Lawson the seat allows him
(00:30):
to be assessed over the remaining races before Red Bull
finalized their plans for next season. Joining us on the
show this morning, out of ESPN Formula one and host
of the Unlapped podcast, Nate Saunders Morning.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Nate, morning matey, going very very well.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thank you well. This is dragged on for months and
months and months here in New Zealand. Will Liam Lawson
get the drive. The announcement is due and it has
finally been made official. Are you surprised by this move by.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Our I'm not surprised by the move. I am surprised
by the handling of it. I think that's been the
big takeaway. You know, there's been this like, like you said,
this bizarre situation really where Lawson's kind of been on
the periphery of this seat for it feels like a
year since he was since he deputized to Ricardo last year,
and Red Bull just haven't really been able to make
(01:21):
their minds up. I mean, there's been you know, Ricardo
has kind of been in, he's been out, he's been in,
he's been out. If you listen to you know, you
follow the media, and yet the only people who weren't
saying whether he was categorically in or out was Red Bull.
And I returned from Singapore this week, and I've got
to tell you that was one of the weirdest weekends
I've covered for a while in terms of that story,
because even Ricardo seemed about ninety percent sure, maybe you know,
(01:44):
maybe eighty percent sure, there was still this feeling of
is he there? Is he out? I spoke to Mea
and Lawson during the week and he felt the same.
And it's not been in my situation for either of
them to be in you know, you want to know,
you want to have that cloudy. But they've plinally made
the call, and I actually think that well, the handling
has been really bad. I think that, you know, such
a great opportunity for Liam Lawson, and I actually think
(02:05):
Red Bull are looking at this in a much bigger picture.
You know, there's there's not just the RB seat they
want to evaluate him for. It's obviously the Red Bull
seat that Sergia Perez hasn't exactly got both of his
hands around at the moment as well.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Do you feel Daniel Ricardo has been hard done by
a little bit?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I think he has been. I think for a guy
as popular as Ricardo and a guy's been around that long,
I think he deserved, you know, at least, you know,
the kind of the dignity of the courtesy of a sendoff.
I thought it was strange the way they handled it.
You know, he obviously set that fastest lap with his
last lap of the race. That was made about that,
and it was just it was very bizarrely handled, and
(02:42):
I think a lot of fans wanted him to at
least have his day, you know, his you know, his race.
I think in terms of results itself, he can't really
have many complaints that just he hasn't been able to
do what Red Bull wanted him to do in that
in that team but yeah, certainly a driver like that,
a guy who won seven races with Red Bully, one
another one with McLaren a sort of career that you
(03:03):
want to cap off with a you know, with a
kind of a feel good ending, and I just feel
like he was robbed of that at the end. So
that was a shame. But obviously not Liamlwlson's fault either,
because a lot of people are kind of giving him
some grief today as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I mean for Liam, he's just been patient, He's just
been sitting there, waiting, waiting, waiting. Do you think now
for the remainder of the season, if he performs well,
he could be a front runner to secure the seat
in the main team nixt season.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I do, honestly. And I think what was telling about
the press release today was that it did not mention
twenty twenty five at all. You know, there was no
reference of, you know, Liam will be in this seat
next year, and that's not a bad thing. I think
what rebul are doing there is they're keeping their options open.
You know, Perez did sign a contract extension earlier this season,
but we know that Redbell contracts they're very easy to
tear up for the sounds of things, and so yeah,
(03:49):
I think that this is another reason why this this
decision makes sense. If you're Red Bull, you get to
evaluate Liam Mawson alongside Uti Sonoda, who, let's face it,
his great form at the start of the season is
really what put Ricardo under the microscope. So I think
that Yuki is a really good benchmark for Leam Lawson.
And if Perez GEPs performing the way he has been,
I mean, he's kind of left the door wide open
(04:11):
for McLaren in the Constructor's Championship, hasn't he. So I
think that the feeling there at Red Bull now is
if we have somebody from within the Red Bull program
that can replace him, let's do it. That's what the
company was always about. It was always about finding the
next great talent and so really exciting opportunity for me.
A lot of pressure, but you know, he'd he jumped
in last year, did me with those yeah, Feld me
(04:32):
with those five races and just did a great job.
So yeah, I'm really excited to see how he can
do because yeah, he's he's shown he's shown a lot
of good things when he has been in the race car.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
You've been close to Formula one. It shows what a
cat throat world it is, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Absolutely? And I mean that and that goes back to
what you were saying about. You know, was Ricardo hard
done by? I think he was. But at the same time,
it's never been a sentimental sport, you know, And so
you know, one minute, one minute your flavor of the month,
you have the greatest thing that anyone's ever seen. In
the next min it you're kind of on the scrap peop.
So you're hopefully Liam Wilson doesn't discover that the harbway himself,
but right now he's in a good position, so yeah,
(05:07):
it's hopefully the only way is up for him. But yeah, Ricardo,
especially the last kind of six years, has found that
out the hardway, hasn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah? Absolutely. And what's going on in Rear Bull. I
mean they're losing key team members lift, right and center.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, I mean it's fascinating at the moment to watch
that team. I mean we're seeing we're kind of seeing
a team implode instead of their success. Usually it happens
at the tail end of that, doesn't it. You know,
people start saying, well, I was responsible for this and
that where Red Bull didn't even get the chance to
start bragging about the success that they were having. It's
quite remarkable. I mean, obviously, the year started with the
Christian Horner the misconduct investigation, and I think that that's
(05:45):
really upset a lot of things within the team. But
you can go back a little further to twenty twenty two.
In October that year, Diatrick Matterschett, the founder of Red Bull,
passed away, and I think there's just been a massive
power vacuum left at Red Bull now and you've got
Adrian Lewis jump ship obviously for next year to ask
to Martin. Jonathan Wheatley is on his way. He's from
Sporting Director. He's going over to the Salva team. So
(06:07):
real key cogs of that operation, and the one that
we keep monitoring is Maxis Staffham because you know there's
monsters that maybe yosters staff and wants him to go
over to to Aster Martin or to Mercedes. And you know,
I think that the way you see Red Bulls team
going at the moment, a lot of people seem to
be wanting to get out of there rather than to
join what's going on. So yeah, really remarkable and I
(06:29):
think it just shows you. I think a lot of this,
a lot of the delay and the ricarded decision was
also to do with that unease and unrest behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
And the season Tonight night turning into what could be
an all time tight finished can makes the step and
hold off the fast charging McLaren of Lendo. Norris.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, Norris is making it interesting, isn't he. I mean
at the start of the year, I wouldn't have I
wouldn't have put any money on on Land, even if
a proud brit I would have said, no chance about hapening.
But yeah, it's a remarkable, remarkable turnaround. I think that
the next two races, actually, I think will be key.
You know, we have six races left, but Norris has
(07:09):
to take chunks of points out of match of the
next two races to go into that kind of final
run of races and be within the margin of error.
And you know, a Staven has a retirement, Mustavein has
a bad race. I think you can do it. I
think the McLaren car clearly is the quickest one. Now
it's just the case of whether Lander will run out
of races or not, and I feel that you might.
But I'm always an optimist. Good one night when it comes,
(07:31):
when it comes to the showdown, so hopefully we get
one again at a nice one.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, we're very proud to have a key We back
in Formula one, so thanks for joining us, mate, no as.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You should be. Thanks very much for having
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Nate's orders from me is P and yet ke We
key We now and Formula one, Liam Lawson and of
course McLaren being founded by key We Bruce McLaren as well,
leading the Manufacturer's Championship and looking strong
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