Daniel Ricciardo mistake bemoaned with VCARB boss 'not happy' as star absent from US GP

team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted that he is 'not happy' with the way that his team handled the departure of in Singapore. The eight-time Grand Prix winner will be absent in Texas this weekend after being dropped for .

Ricciardo's future was already in doubt heading into the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, but reports emerged prior to media day suggesting that the decision had already been made to drop the Australian for Lawson heading into the final six races of the year.

VCARB and Red Bull officials refused to confirm or deny the rumours, insisting that nothing was set in stone, and despite giving a string of emotional post-race interviews, Ricciardo himself couldn't confirm or deny whether or not he was leaving. The news eventually came in the form of a press release one week later.

The team's handling of the driver swap has been criticised by fans and some pundits who believe that the F1 icon deserved a proper send-off in what will likely be his final-ever Grand Prix appearance.

"We are not happy with ultimately how we handled it, and of course, we are very conscious that we could, and we should, have done a better job at that," explained team principal Mekies. "Now, Daniel and us, we were talking on a very regular basis, and then we went into that weekend knowing both of us what the situation was.

"For a number of reasons we decided to go into [Singapore] trying to keep it [not] public and it proved very, very quickly in the weekend that unfortunately it was not the right decision. Certainly we would do things differently if we had to do it again.

"Now, I'd like to think that from what we saw in Singapore, from the reaction of the fans, from the reaction of the paddock, it was unbelievable how in one way or another, all these streams of love, all these streams of support did arrive nonetheless.

"Even if it was not official, even if it was not the most classic send-off, we felt the fans found a way, and we all love Daniel, and he has proven there that he is bigger than Formula One."

While the door may have closed for Ricciardo in F1, for Lawson it has only just opened. The 22-year-old has an outside shot at securing the second Red Bull seat for 2025 and has six races in which to prove his worth to Christian Horner and the Red Bull hierarchy.