Exit left, pursued by a bear

 Daniel Ricciardo has been unceremoniously booted from Formula 1.

For non-fans, this may seem like an inconsequential piece of news, but to me - it is devastating.

A quick intro on Daniel for everyone - he's an Australian (ex)F1 driver, known for his daring late braking overtakes and an infectious positive attitude.
He started his career in the top flight of F1 by beating the then reigning champion Sebastian Vettel as his team-mate.
His statistics of 8 wins, 3 pole positions and 17 fastest laps may not seem impressive, but as any keen F1 fan knows - numbers don't tell the whole story.

In a sport that is filled with high octane drama (much of it made up), his constant cheerfulness was, to me, the antithesis of all the vitriol thrown around in the F1 fanbase.

If you started watching F1 in the recent past - you may wonder why he got the title of the 'Honey Badger'.

Let's rewind the clock. The year is 2017, at the Italian Grand Prix held at Monza. Daniel's chasing Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in his Red Bull down the main straight and he seems to be miles behind. As the cars near Turn 1, a slow chicane leading into the Curva Grande. Well, Daniel's a little too far behind to pass Kimi this lap... But no. The camera suddenly pans to the Red Bull slamming on the brakes at the last possible moment, diving down the inside of the track and catching Kimi quite unaware. He's dived from way back, judging the last possible moment to start slowing down from close to 300km/h to a near standstill to perfection. Kimi, a notorious late braker himself, in a Ferrari - a car much quicker than the Red Bull has been passed as if he was racing in a different category and nobody can quite believe their eyes.

Rewind the clock further to the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. Daniel, having already used a similar tactic to pass Jenson Button, Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen now faces his reigning 4 time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Once again, he dives to the inside, drawing parallel at the last moment - but Vettel holds on, locking his front tyres up in a desperate attempt to stay ahead.
The two now go side by side through the Curva Grande before Riccardo dives down the inside line from the outside at the last moment, passing a completely fooled Vettel through the second chicane.

The Monaco Grand Prix of 2018 sums up Daniel's prowess.
Fastest in Free Practice 1.
Fastest in Free Practice 2.
Fastest in Free Practice 3.
Takes the Pole Position in Qualifying.
Suffers multiple system failures partway through the race, with only 6 out of 8 gears working and having 25% less horsepower than usual.
Retains the lead with these issues for 50 laps.
Wins the race.

What saddens me though, is the way this remarkable driver has been forced out of F1. All through the previous race weekend at Singapore, rumours were floating about him leaving F1 - yet no official statement by Red Bull or Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. He still drags one of the slowest cars on the grid to the fastest lap at the end of the race.
Because not even the team principal knew, he was denied a proper goodbye to the F1 world. No final press conference, no final donuts on the grid, nothing. Just a standard template poster shared by F1's official social media days later announcing his exit.

It's a good thing I didn't purchase a subscription for F1TV, for I have suddenly lost almost all my love for F1.

Good-bye Daniel. I hope to see you in some other motorsport, or hopefully, you get to return to F1 with a good car.

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