Daniel Ricciardo has ‘good idea’ Singapore Grand Prix could be his last Formula 1 race

When asked why the team had sent him to the pits for new tyres at the end of the race, an RB spokesman replied: “If this was his last race, we wanted him to go out on track with a good feeling.”

The RB spokesman added that the team did not know whether a decision had been made. Ricciardo’s future will be determined by Red Bull management, primarily team principal Christian Horner and motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.

Ricciardo said: “I think it can help Max in Abu Dhabi, so maybe there will be a Christmas present if he wins by one point.”

Verstappen said: “He can ask whatever he wants.”

The Dutchman, who was Ricciardo’s teammate at Red Bull from 2016 to 2018, paid tribute to the 35-year-old.

“He’s a great guy,” Verstappen said. “We’ve always had a great relationship. We had a sporting rivalry in the team.

“He will be remembered as a great driver, as a great person. He has a great character. It’s rare that someone hates him. In a few years, when I’m gone, we’ll sit back, have a beer and remember all those years together.”

Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault at the end of 2018 and spent two seasons with the French team, performing competitively, before moving to McLaren in 2021.

There he struggled to keep up with the pace of teammate Norris and was dropped from the squad after the 2022 season, a year before the end of his contract.

Ricciardo was given a reserve role at Red Bull for 2023 and was brought back halfway through last season as a replacement for Dutchman Nyck de Vries, whose performances for the junior team were not enough to satisfy management.

But two races after his comeback, Ricciardo broke his hand in a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix and was replaced by Lawson for five events.

Red Bull hoped that his return would see him regain the form he had shown with them over the past decade and that he would become a potential replacement for Sergio Perez as Verstappen’s teammate.

But more often than not he was outperformed by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Ricciardo told Sky Sports: “I have to admit why I came back after my time at McLaren. I always said I didn’t want to come back just to be on the grid. I wanted to fight at the front and come back to Red Bull.

“It didn’t work out. I also have to ask myself what else can I achieve and what else can I really strive for?

“I put my best foot forward and maybe the fairytale ending didn’t happen, but I also have to look back at what it has been, some 13 years. I’m proud.”

Ricciardo had to hold back tears when asked why he had spent so much time in the cockpit of his car after the race.

He said: “A lot of emotions. I know it can be that. Just exhausted after the race, so a flood of emotions and feelings and exhaustion. The cockpit is something I’ve become very used to over the years. I just wanted to enjoy the moment.”