Montoya highlights the 'moment of stupidity' that ended Ricciardo's career

It’s been almost a year since Daniel Ricciardo’s turbulent exit from Formula 1. The Australian, who made a second comeback after retiring at the end of 2022 with McLaren, was given another chance to redeem himself thanks to Red Bull Racing, which decided to place him in Nyck De Vries’s seat.

The goal, in theory, was to see the best version of Ricciardo again, with the possibility of eventually returning to Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen after leaving the team at the end of 2018.

However, aside from a few occasional flashes of his talent, the Australian struggled even when compared to Yuki Tsunoda and was ultimately replaced after the Singapore GP.

Appearing on the MontoyAS podcast, Juan Pablo Montoya pinpointed the moment he believes marked the beginning of the decline in the final phase of Daniel Ricciardo’s career:

For the Colombian, the strange wrist injury Daniel suffered during practice at Zandvoort was the turning point: ''Think about it. A moment of stupidity of that magnitude defined Ricciardo’s career and opened the door to Lawson.''

After the injury, Ricciardo was temporarily replaced by young Liam Lawson, who immediately showed great skill behind the wheel of the Red Bull, even scoring several points finishes.

The New Zealander was even able to outqualify Verstappen in Singapore, knocking him out of Q3.

Ricciardo then returned but without making much impact, aside from a standout weekend in Mexico in 2023, where he secured seventh place following an impressive qualifying session on Saturday.

In 2024, however, Ricciardo often found himself stuck in the midfield or outside the top 10, with an eighth-place finish in Canada standing as his best result of the season.