Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo has officially completed his final race for Aston Martin Red Bull. The 29-year old finished 4th in Abu Dhabi behind Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. While it may not have been a podium or win, it was definitely a last hurrah.
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As he crossed the finish line, his engineer radioed him, thanking him for his five years with the team. Ricciardo responded in typical Ricciardo fashion, “You’re a d**khead.” After a few beats he said, “For the record, you’re not a d**khead, you’re OK”
Hah, after his engineer's message, Ricciardo goes "you're a dickhead!"
A few seconds later: "…for the record, you're not a dickhead, you're OK…"#F1 #AbuDhabiGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) November 25, 2018
The Australian joined the team in 2014 as Sebastian Vettel’s teammate. Since then, he has never looked back. However, things got tougher when Max Verstappen joined the fray and he had to really duke it out.
2018 seemed to be his worst season till date as he suffered more retirements than any other driver. However, he quickly redeemed himself in today’s race and capitalised on others’ struggles.
For 2019, Ricciardo will be joining the Renault team alongside Nico Hulkenberg. Ricciardo’s place will be filled by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly. The ‘Honey Badger’ was one of the few drivers who had a swansong of sorts. Others included Fernando Alonso who finished 11th, Carlos Sainz in 6th, in his final race for Renault, and Charles LeClerc 7th in his final race for Sauber.
Sadly, Kimi Raikkonen, Marcus Ericsson, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had terrible final races. Ericsson and Ocon are in their final F1 races ever, unless they return in 2020. Raikkonen and Gasly were racing for Ferrari and Toro Rosso respectively for the final time.
