P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Nine drivers have now been ejected from a Red Bull Formula 1 team race seat mid-season. Where does Daniel Ricciardo’s fate rank on the harshness scale?
Daniel Ricciardo’s unexpected departure from the Red Bull Formula 1 team with a quarter of the 2024 season remaining marks the eighth – or potentially ninth – time a driver has been removed mid-season by Red Bull. Some drivers were cut from F1 entirely, while others were demoted to the junior team. Debates arise over the justification of these mid-year changes, questioning whether they could have waited until winter to avoid humiliating the drivers. The decision-making process is ranked from least to most severe. For instance, Tonio Liuzzi’s disappearance in 2005 could be seen as an above-board method of transitioning drivers without explicitly removing one. The abrupt removal of Sebastien Bourdais in 2009 to make room for Jaime Alguersuari illustrates a complex situation of experience versus potential within Red Bull’s developmental program.
