In the end, Ricciardo qualified in P16 at Marina Bay and went on to finish the race down in P18, all but sealing his fate.
Ricciardo receives F1 snub
Despite finishing well down the order, Ricciardo did go out with a bang in Singapore, delivering a dramatic fastest lap late in the race to deny McLaren star Lando Norris a crucial point in his championship fight against Max Verstappen.
At the time, it felt significant, too, with every point at that stage feeling like it was going to be crucial to the title fight. Furthermore, it was a controversial talking point post-race in Singapore given VCARB's relationship with Red Bull as their junior team.
Despite this, however, when putting together their top ten dramatic moments of the season list recently, F1 snubbed this glorious Ricciardo moment despite it being full of drama.
In a video published on the official F1 YouTube channel, the 'top 10' dramatic moments of the season have been revealed, with Ricciardo failing to feature on the list.
Instead, moments such as on-track debris causing two punctures in Qatar featured, along with McLaren's team orders drama in Hungary. The video culminated with Verstappen and Norris' collision at the Austrian Grand Prix that forced the Brit to retire from the race.
Arguably, another Ricciardo moment early on in the season could have also featured in the top ten, along with his fastest lap.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix, there was team orders drama between Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, and after the race, when trying to prove a point, the Japanese driver nearly took out his team-mate as he attempted a move down the inside at Bahrain International Circuit, locking up his tyres and leaving Ricciardo to unleash an x-rated insult.
Both the Bahrain and Singapore moments were theatrical in their own right, and arguably at least one should have made F1's top ten dramatic moments for this season.