Daniel Ricciardo has been tipped to make an appearance at the United States Grand Prix, the first race since he was axed by VCARB for Liam Lawson.
Ricciardo has always been a fan favourite, especially Stateside, but the popularity has not translated into success on the grid this season. He underwhelmed alongside Yuki Tsunoda and sat 10 points behind his team-mate, before Lawson was given an opportunity to make an impact in the final six races of the season.
The first of those is at the Circuit of the Americas, where the New Zealander could even be watched on by the driver he replaced. Track chairman Bobby Epstein has revealed his hope that Ricciardo will be in attendance even though he has no seat race or media duties.
“Daniel, he may be able to have just as big an impact out of the car as he has in it at our grand prix,” Epstein said. “I’m not sure that necessarily people are buying tickets to come see him race if he’s not in a competitive car, right?
“So if you’re coming because he’s part of the F1 community, I think he can still be part of the F1 community in a pretty meaningful way. He’s really, really loved in Texas, and I think he likes it here.
“And so I would hope that he makes himself available more to the fans than he would otherwise be if he had an obligation in the car. I hope he’s still coming here, because we’ve got a lot of people who would love to shake his hand or get his autograph or take a picture. Just see him around town. We’ll keep him busy.”
News that the United States GP are targeting a Ricciardo appearance comes after British ex-F1 driver David Coulthard described the Aussie’s exit from VCARB as a publicity “masterstroke”.
Many had been left in the dark over Ricciardo’s fate at the Singapore GP, despite numerous reports that Lawson was set to take over, but the 35-year-old did not confirm as such before he took to the track in what could have been the final time.
“I know there’s been a lot of reaction negatively, people going, why was he not given that opportunity?” Coulthard told the Formula For Success podcast. “But I’ve heard that he was given that opportunity and chose not to.
“So I’m trying to kind of figure that out in my head, whether that’s just a personal thing, didn’t want to be distracted by that, or whether that’s some sort of media masterstroke, which will just gain even more mileage when I imagine he will or should turn up in Austin and Vegas. He’s big in America.
“[Those are] two great opportunities for him to get a lot of airtime and make it all about him, where maybe it would have been mixed into a Grand Prix weekend in Singapore.”
