Bruising Daniel Ricciardo experience detailed

Former Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo was absent from the 2025 season opener in Melbourne, with the Drive to Survive favourite missed by his home audience.

In 2024, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull's junior outfit Racing Bulls, where he was put up against Yuki Tsunoda to prove his place in the sport whilst also competing for a potential promotion back into the main team.

F1 HEADLINES: Daniel Ricciardo gets bizarre call up, FIA make official announcement ahead of Chinese Grand Prix

READ MORE: McLaren suffer championship setback after late FIA penalty verdict at Australian Grand Prix

Whilst reigning champion Max Verstappen came out on top in the drivers' standings once again last season, his Red Bull team dropped to third in the constructors' standings, largely thanks to the inconsistency of his team-mate Sergio Perez.

Some F1 fans had hoped that Ricciardo would be handed a reunion with his former team-mate for 2025, but his career took a sharp U-turn when it was announced at the Singapore GP in 2024 that he had been dropped by Racing Bulls and replaced with reserve driver Liam Lawson.

F1 WEATHER: Chinese Grand Prix weather: Latest forecast today from Shanghai International Circuit

Ricciardo absence makes way for F1 home hero

The 2025 season got underway at the Australian Grand Prix, where home fans will have no doubt missed Ricciardo.

With many expecting the Aussie star to stay out of the sport for the foreseeable future, GPFans spoke to Sky F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham about her predictions for 2025 and how things will feel without Ricciardo on the grid.

Pinkham spoke highly of the multiple rookies entering the pinnacle of motorsport this season, revealing conversations with another Aussie racer, Jack Doohan, who has signed his first full-time contract to race for Alpine.

READ MORE: Colton Herta WARNED he has 'so much to lose' by joining Cadillac F1 project

Discussing Doohan's first race of the season being in front of a home crowd, Pinkham said: "I actually said to him [Doohan], I’m just gutted that I’m not going to be in Australia to see him race with his home fans because they will feel bruised from Daniel leaving the grid."

"For them to have Jack [Doohan] and Oscar [Piastri] now to cheer for, I think the atmosphere is going to be electric there and I really hope he can put in a strong performance."

An Australian F1 driver has never won the Australian Grand Prix as a championship race, and fans will have to wait a little longer after Lando Norris claimed the first win of the season whilst his team-mate Oscar Piastri only managed P9.

READ MORE: Popular F1 figure speaks out on Taylor Swift romance

Related

GPFans Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: The time Lewis Hamilton DEFIED Mercedes orders to race

• March 7, 2025 02:00

GPFans Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: Red Bull F1 star BACKS Hamilton as champion demands important change

• January 6, 2025 18:00