Formula 1: Daniel Ricciardo fed up, ready to be done at Red Bull Racing

Following his eighth retirement of the 2018 Formula 1 season in the Mexican Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo is ready to be done driving for Red Bull Racing.

In early August, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo confirmed that he will be leaving Red Bull Racing, the team for which he has driven since the 2014 Formula 1 season and earned all seven of his victories, following the end of the 2018 season.

The 29-year-old Australian confirmed that he will be driving for Renault Sport next season as the replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr., who was later confirmed as the replacement for two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren.

Scuderia Toro Rosso rookie Pierre Gasly is set to replace Ricciardo as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull Racing beginning next season.

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With Red Bull Racing being one of the three teams along with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and Scuderia Ferrari that have combined to win each of the last 116 races since Kimi Raikkonen won the 2013 season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, in his second and final season driving for Lotus, many fans questioned Ricciardo’s decision.

The fact that Renault have not won a race since the 2008 season when Alonso won the Japanese Grand Prix also caused many fans to wonder why Ricciardo would give up his ride at Red Bull Racing to drive for a team that compete to be the “best of the rest” and rarely have either one of their two drivers finish races in the top five.

Renault’s most recent podium finish took place in the 2011 season when Nick Heidfeld finished in third place in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The 19th race of the 21-race 2018 season, the Mexican Grand Prix, appeared to be Ricciardo’s best chance to earn one more victory before leaving the Milton Keynes-based team at the end of the season, especially considering Red Bull Racing’s dominance in the race last year, as Verstappen took the lead at the start from second place and went on to win all 71 of its laps.

Ricciardo ended up taking the pole position for the 71-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.674-mile (4.304-kilometer) Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico, but after losing two positions at the start, he ended up never leading. With 10 laps to go, a mechanical issue forced him to retire. He was running in second place at the time.

Meanwhile, Verstappen, who started from second place and took the lead at the start once again, dominated the race by leading 67 of its laps en route to winning it.

Ricciardo has now retired from eight races so far this season, and six of the retirements that he has experienced have taken place as a result of mechanical issues. He has been forced to retire in 11 of the last 23 races dating back to last season.

As a result, Ricciardo, who has managed to win two races so far this season, the Chinese Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix, is more than fed up, and he is more than ready to move on from Red Bull Racing. In fact, he believes that his departure from the team cannot possibly come soon enough. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.

"“I don’t think ‘frustration’ is the word anymore. Honestly, now where I am, I don’t see the point of coming on Sunday, I don’t see the point of doing the next two races. I haven’t had a clean race or weekend in so long. I’m not superstitious or any of this bull****, but…the car’s cursed. I don’t have any more words.“Helpless I think is the best word. Even today, the starts have been good all weekend, the practice starts, and for the race start, it’s all over the place. Just things are happening on Sunday which I’ve got no more explanation for. The car…I’ll let Gasly drive it, I’m done with it.”"

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Where will Daniel Ricciardo finish in the final two races of the 2018 Formula 1 season and the final two races before he is officially set to leave Red Bull Racing and sign with Renault? Will Pierre Gasly have more success driving for Red Bull Racing in the 2019 season than Ricciardo has had driving for the team as of late?

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