“I’ve loved this sport my whole life,” began Ricciardo’s message. “It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey. To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you. To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha thank you.
“It’ll always have its highs and lows but it’s been fun and truth be told I wouldn’t change it. Until the next adventure.”
ANALYSIS: Ricciardo’s F1 career looks to be over – how did it come to this?
Red Bull reserve Lawson has been named as Ricciardo’s replacement for the rest of the season, starting with the upcoming United States Grand Prix in Austin. This will allow them to evaluate him against team mate Yuki Tsunoda, who is enjoying his best campaign in F1 and already has a contract for next season.
“Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us,” said boss Laurent Mekies.
“He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit.