Mekis admitted: Ricciardo should have been seen differently

After the Singapore Grand Prix, what had been rumored for some time was officially confirmed: Liam Lawson will replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB for the remaining six races of the season.

Already during the weekend in Singapore it was clear where things were going, and Daniel knew about it, so his farewell to the team and the paddock was very emotional. However, for some reason, Red Bull delayed announcing their decision and hinted that everything has its time.

In general, given the merits of Ricciardo, it was possible and necessary to act differently, and now Laurent Mekies, the head of the RB team, is ready to admit this.

“The whole thing has been frustrating,” he said at a news conference in Austin today. – Yes, you are right, we must start with the fact that that weekend not everything was done in the best way – this applies both to the professional side and in terms of human relations, and concerns all the people who worked with him.

Daniël already knew. We discussed everything before the start of the weekend and for many reasons we decided together not to make any statements during the Singapore Grand Prix. After that it was necessary to follow this plan. Now we can say with hindsight that everything should have been done differently, but the decision was made by the team together with the driver.

I think somehow we will find a way to express to Daniel how much he is loved in our sport, how much love the fans have for him, so I don’t know if it would be better or worse if we a more traditional farewell. But then many things would of course be different.

I hope I can say that during the weekend in Singapore we felt the incredibly warm attitude of the fans towards Daniel, and something else that showed that he is more than just a Formula 1 driver.”