“I’m Daniel Ricciardo and I’m a car mechanic.”

With these words, self-confessed “Drive to Survive” fans Zoe Jewell and Hannah Hall were enthusiastic about Formula 1. The couple fell in love with the sport, thanks in no small part to Ricciardo's cheeky appearance in the first episode of the Netflix hit documentary five years ago, and subsequently launched the F1 podcast Fan Behavior. They joke that their entire business and love of motorsports wouldn't exist without him.

Following the news that Ricciardo would be replaced by newcomer Liam Lawson ahead of the United States Grand Prix, social media feeds were flooded with emotional videos in which fans praised his 13-year career and pondered whether the “Honey Badger” had been neglected – changed – not just by Red Bull, but by Formula 1 as a whole, as she was denied a proper farewell.

“Daniel is the very first face you see, the very first person you are introduced to,” Jewell told Motorsport while discussing the pilot episode of “DTS.” “He has such an infectious personality; He's so likeable and so easy to get excited about. He immediately had something human about him: you could easily imagine spending time with him or being part of a circle of friends.”

Lewis Hamilton, arguably the world's best-known F1 driver, and both Mercedes and Ferrari declined to take part in the first season of “DTS,” pushing Ricciardo into the spotlight. By the time fans got a look behind Hamilton's helmet in season two, they were already captivated by the Australian's boyish charm and the promise that he was the impending world champion.

“He was the connecting point for a lot of people trying to get to know Formula One for the first time,” Jewell explained. “For me, Daniel was the first step, then I became obsessed with racing, then it was learning about strategy… I don't know if I would have continued with the show if it wasn't for him,” she admitted.

Hall chimed in: “I don't think the impact of the show would have been the same if he hadn't been the lead. And you just can’t ignore the fact that he has played a huge role in this new, predominantly female group of fans taking part in the sport.”

Liberty Media, the billion-dollar conglomerate that bought Bernie Ecclestone's Formula 1 in 2017, has made no secret of its desire to corner the American sports market, boasting that attendance and viewership has soared in the wake of the post-“DTS” season have increased rapidly. Boom. Many fans believe the success is due in part to the 35-year-old Australian, who has had an undeniable impact on the sport's changing demographic, which is now much younger and much more female than in decades past.

“Daniel was so willing to immerse himself in American culture and American media…I think people forget that just a few years ago not many drivers did that,” Jewell said. “Daniel was the guy who did podcasts, talk shows and YouTube… and connected with fans in a different way than other drivers.”

Nicole Sievers, co-host of the Two Girls One Formula podcast, who became a fan of the Australian after coming across his post-race interviews online, echoed that sentiment.

“I think he brought out a lot of personality in the other drivers and gave them permission to be themselves in a landscape where they weren't allowed to use social media and have these big personalities, like Bernie did had say,” she said. He was referring to the climate in the paddock before Liberty Media intervened. “They were just expected to show up and race, but I think Daniel always resisted that.”

Ricciardo's infectious personality and fearlessness made him a fan favorite

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

After leaving the team in 2018, he was no longer able to achieve the same success he had with Red Bull

Photo by: Pirelli

Of course, drivers regularly lose their spots and fan favorites leave the sport (see Sebastian Vettel in 2022), but Ricciardo's departure is more emotional than anything we've seen in modern times, and it may come first on this season of “DTS.”

“The fans who got into Formula 1 through Drive to Survive never saw him succeed at the level he did in his Red Bull days,” said Jewell. “There is a feeling of unfinished business because he was sold to us in the first season as this great potential world champion and that never happened to him. That makes it much harder for people to swallow all of this.”

But even Ricciardo's die-hard fans are under no illusions. His lack of performance in recent years is evident and many of them agree that his time in the starting lineup was coming to a natural end. But the circumstances under which his career was derailed are leaving a bad taste in people's mouths.

“It breaks my heart. “The fact that they are treating him like this is devastating,” Sievers said. “He did so much for this sport, especially in America. Red Bull made him their jester as a reserve driver in 2023, then we saw Christian (Horner) say he had a strong future with the team… only to release him with six races left in the season when they weren't even in the season yet The championship fight feels so terrible.”

Hall also criticized Horner and the Red Bull management for bringing Ricciardo back into the team only to “beat him when he's down” without any celebration or farewell.

“Sure, he's not riding his best at the moment, but he's on par with Yuki (Tsunoda), so you can't say it's down to performance. The whole thing was really mishandled. Shame on Red Bull and shame on Formula 1.”

Ricciardo's dismissal comes amid a flood of rookies moving up to Formula 1: Australians Jack Doohan, Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman have all secured places on the 2025 grid alongside Lawson. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams earlier this month and scored points in just his second race.

Katy Fairman, a motorsports journalist who has witnessed Ricciardo's influence on the sport over the last decade, said she understood RB's decision.

“I can imagine that Red Bull wouldn’t want to let a promising young prospect get away and go somewhere else,” she said of Lawson. “And the reality is that Ricciardo hasn’t performed as well as he needs.”

“But there definitely should have been more respect for a legacy like Daniel Ricciardo’s so that we can properly celebrate the end of a truly iconic era in Formula 1.”