This was never how Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula One career was supposed to end.

For a driver who once looked like a potential world champion and quickly won over fans through his affable nature and infectious personality, he deserved a proper send-off after 13 years on the grid.

Instead, he was left in limbo. To treat last Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix as, unofficially, his last grand prix, without any closure or a decision over whether he’d be back in Austin next month.

That didn’t arrive until Thursday, four days after Ricciardo had said what he anticipated would be his final farewells to the F1 paddock, when Red Bull confirmed his departure.

It put an end to what had turned into Schrödinger’s driver decision: Ricciardo was both leaving and yet to leave. Ricciardo’s emotion on Sunday made clear what was going to happen. Yet he’d been robbed of the chance to properly say goodbye to F1. It was all done with an asterisk.

Through his media sessions on Thursday in Singapore, Ricciardo acknowledged the speculation that he could be replaced by Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s reserve driver, as early as the next race. But he seemed more worried about 2025 than the remainder of the season. He didn’t appear to seriously think that it was his last F1 race.

By Saturday, as Ricciardo digested his Q1 exit that left him 16th on the grid, while RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda made it through to Q3, his tone and body language suggested there’d been a shift. What became a possibility had now become assumed as fact.

He made a concerted effort to soak up every single moment of Sunday, knowing this could be the final time he raced in F1. That even extended to taking a little extra time to sit in his car before getting out after the checkered flag. It had been his home for over a decade.

“The cockpit is something that … I got very used to for many years,” Ricciardo said in an emotional interview with F1 TV after the race, fighting back tears. “I just wanted to savor the moment.”

Danny Ric ❤️

An emotional Daniel Ricciardo speaks after the #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/53hD09HZ4z

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024

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Ricciardo may not be the grand-prix driver he once was at Red Bull. The one who burst onto the scene and immediately put Sebastian Vettel, then the reigning four-time world champion, in the shade in 2014. Or who produced magic around the streets of Monaco in 2018, redemption for his heartbreaking loss two years earlier. Or who put up a genuine challenge to Max Verstappen, now recognized as an F1 great, in their time as teammates.

But he deserved so much better than this protracted, awkward exit that ended up dragging out into a situation where there were zero winners.

Even as Ricciardo spoke like a man who’d raced for the final time in F1 on Sunday, the official line from Red Bull and RB was that no decision had been taken. The only acknowledgement of the potential change in driver lineup came in RB’s post-race press release when, in explaining the decision to pit Ricciardo for the fast lap late on, team principal Laurent Mekies noted it “may have been Daniel’s last race.” Red Bull F1 chief Christian Horner said on Sunday that the break before Austin was a chance to review the driver performances across Red Bull’s two teams, and that Ricciardo was “just one part of the jigsaw.”

The reason that review had to take place now is Lawson, and the need to make a call on his future or risk losing him due to clauses in his contract. If Red Bull had failed to get him on the F1 grid, then he’d be free to leave its driver setup. Given how well he performed during his five-race stint while Ricciardo was out injured last year, Red Bull didn’t want to lose a talent that could play a big part in its F1 future.

But for Ricciardo, the timing meant that, if Red Bull wanted to pull the trigger and make a change with six races left in the season, there was always this risk he’d be robbed of a proper F1 farewell unless a decision were made prior to Singapore.

And of all races to not be at, the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where Ricciardo leans fully into the spirit of the race — he’s sported Texas Longhorns jerseys, cowboy hats, and even entered the paddock on horseback one year — feels like the worst one to make a change before. His commercial appeal, especially in the United States, remains undeniable.

The performance reasons behind the decision are understandable. Ricciardo has only one point in the last seven races, and Lawson showed what he can do during his five-race cameo last year. With Haas closing in on RB in the constructors’ championship standings, sometimes tough calls must be taken for the sake of the wider team.

It’s the waiting that turned this situation into a lose-lose for Red Bull. Had it been announced that Singapore would be Ricciardo’s last race, he’d have received the chance to fully embrace the grand prix weekend and get a proper send-off. There wouldn’t have been the strange uncertainty, the doubt-laden answers. Nothing able to be said with any assurance or confidence.

That all left the F1 community to say a soft goodbye. Social media has been rife with videos of Ricciardo’s emotional chats in Singapore, edits set to “Pink Skies,” his favorite song by Zach Bryan, and clips of his famous “enjoy the butterflies” interview. All of it was on the assumption of a decision that didn’t get confirmed until days later.

No, we’re not losing one of F1’s all-time greats, or even one of the best drivers on the grid right now. It is nevertheless an abrupt, sad farewell to someone who has played a big role in defining F1 through the 2010s and played a significant part in Red Bull’s F1 history.

F1 can be ruthless. That’s no secret. But for someone who has put so much of his heart and personality into being more than just another F1 driver, Ricciardo deserved better.

Daniel Ricciardo celebrates in style after winning the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, two years after a bad pit stop cost him the victory there. (Dan Istitene / Getty Images)

(Top photo of Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

Joe Wolf, who rose to stardom as a North Carolina basketball captain under legendary coach Dean Smith, died earlier this week. 

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Wolf’s passing.

“Throughout his life, Joe touched many lives and was a highly respected, adored and dedicated coach and player across the NBA,” the Bucks said in a statement on Thursday. Wolf was 59.

After he left North Carolina, Wolf went on to play for several NBA teams over the span of 11 years. He then moved into coaching, working as an assistant for the Bucks’ G League affiliate — the Wisconsin Herd.

“Off the court, Joe was a beloved brother, uncle, friend and community leader,” the statement from the Bucks continued. “We send our deepest condolences to Joe’s family and friends. The Bucks and Herd will always be grateful to Joe for his hard work and commitment to our organization. He will be missed.”

Wolf was a high school All-American in 1983 before joining the Tar Heels to play alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. Wolf was a co-captain for the Tar Heels as a senior in 1986-87, sharing that role with Kenny Smith.

North Carolina went 115-22 in Wolf’s four seasons, making the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight twice in that span. Wolf credited Smith for instilling important skills in him from the beginning of his college experience.

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“I like to think I started getting trained the minute I stepped on campus,” Wolf told the Greensboro News and Record in 2018. “Coach Smith was all about building the proper habits. That benefits me today.”

North Carolina’s Joe Wolf (24) is stopped by Villanova players Gary McLain (22) and Harold Jensen (32) during early action at NCAA Southeast Regional finals at Birmingham, Ala., March 24, 1985.  (AP Photo/File)

He was an All-ACC pick in 1987 and finished his career at North Carolina with 1,231 points. The Los Angeles Clippers used the No. 13 pick in the 1987 draft on Wolf. He spent three seasons with the organization before joining the Denver Nuggets in 1991, and later playing for five more franchises.

Wolf led Kohler High School to three Wisconsin state championships, and in 2005 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named him the state’s greatest high school basketball player ever, the Bucks said.

He coached at the college level as an assistant at William & Mary and UNC Wilmington, was a head coach in what is now called the G League with Idaho, Colorado and Greensboro, had been an NBA assistant for Milwaukee and Brooklyn and was hired in 2023 as a G League assistant for the Herd.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Three down, how many more to go?

Over the past seven weeks, the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds have all fired their managers. If history is any indication, the turnover is only beginning.

A fourth job will open when Skip Schumaker exercises his “get out of jail free” card with the Miami Marlins. Other changes are almost certain, whether due to retirements, postseason flameouts or internal conflicts.

Sometimes, these things come out of nowhere. The Chicago Cubs’ hiring of Craig Counsell to replace David Ross at the end of last season was one such move. The St. Louis Cardinals’ firing of Mike Shildt after a 17-game winning streak propelled the team to a wild-card berth in 2021 was another.

Other times, the moves are more predictable. The White Sox’s dismissal of Pedro Grifol in early August was all but inevitable. Even the Reds’ dumping of David Bell earlier this week did not exactly qualify as a surprise.

Stuff will happen. Stuff always happens. Here’s a look at 10 managers under scrutiny:

It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers blaming Roberts for the organization’s inability to keep pitchers healthy, especially when upper management passed on chances to scapegoat him for their Division Series losses in 2019, ‘22 and ‘23.

Since becoming manager in 2015, Roberts has led the Dodgers to eight NL West titles in nine years and a 106-win season the year they finished second. The team entering Wednesday had won 51 more regular-season games than its nearest competitor, as well as the 2020 World Series.

Blowing a four-game lead to the Padres with eight to play would have placed Roberts in jeopardy, but the Dodgers can clinch the NL West with a win on Thursday. A third straight upset defeat in the DS, however, is still possible. And such an outcome might compel president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to make a change.

Roberts, 52, is under contract through next season, which raises another question: If the Dodgers keep him, would they sign him to another extension or allow him to start 2025 as a lame duck? Based on his accomplishments, Roberts could rightly ask for more than the $8 million average annual salary the Cubs gave Counsell.

Boone’s fate, like Roberts’, might hinge on what happens in the postseason. The noise in New York certainly will grow louder if the Yankees make a quick exit in the DS or even if they advance to the American League Championship Series and perform the way they did in 2022, when they were swept by the Houston Astros.

The Yankees have made the playoffs in all but one of Boone’s seven seasons, and are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the third-most victories in the majors during that time. The current team, though, can be hard to watch. The Yankees are the worst base running team in the majors, according to FanGraphs. Their lapses on the bases and in the field are at some level a reflection on their manager.

Still, the Yankees’ overall collection of talent might be their best since 2009, when they last won the World Series. Boone, 51, will need to be quick-witted in the postseason, deploying pinch hitters and pinch runners, and managing a bullpen without a true closer (though Luke Weaver certainly has looked the part). The Yankees hold an option on Boone for 2025.

Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves

The Braves are not about to force out Snitker after he kept the team in contention during a season marred by one injury after another. The better question might be whether Snitker — at age 68, after nine seasons as manager and nearly 50 years in the Atlanta organization — still wants to manage.

Under contract through 2025, Snitker might be reluctant to go out on a sour note. He also might be reluctant, after decades of minor-league pay, to sacrifice a salary believed to be in the $1.5 million to $2 million range. But the job is so taxing, health is a concern for every manager. And Snitker talks occasionally about the difficulty of enduring the strain at his age.

An easy solution, if Snitker wants to move on, would be for the Braves to make him a high-paid advisor and keep him part of the organization. If anyone deserves a golden parachute, after six straight division titles and a World Series triumph in 2021, it’s “Snit.”

Baldelli is not solely responsible for the team’s collapse. The Twins seem unlikely to hold him responsible. But the team’s cohesion has eroded since it was swept in Kansas City in early September, amid a 12-23 freefall. And Baldelli, if he survives, might need to adjust his loose, laid-back style, which seemingly has backfired with his young team.

Injuries are part of the problem for a club that has used three rookie starters down the stretch and played without three top position players — Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis — for chunks of the season. But Correa, in comments after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Marlins at Target Field, indicated certain players were not showing enough urgency, saying of the Twins’ predicament, “Some guys take it as poison and some guys take it as fuel.”

Baldelli, 43, has appeared more frustrated in the past six weeks than at any point during his six years as manager. His team’s lack of edge, though, would appear partly his own doing. Without the presence of an everyday force such as the Cleveland Guardians’ José Ramírez or the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., the Twins might need a greater push from its manager in 2025.

Skip Schumaker, Miami Marlins

This one is a fait accompli. After the season ends on Sunday, Schumaker will take advantage of the freedom he gained last offseason when the Marlins agreed to void his 2025 option. At that point, the team will be left to replace a manager who, as a free agent, is expected to be coveted by multiple clubs.

Assistant general manager Gabe Kapler, who managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and ‘19 and the San Francisco Giants from 2020 to ‘23, would figure to be one candidate. But another possibility is that Kapler will remain in the front office and play a significant role in choosing Schumaker’s successor.

Among the potential candidates: Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz, who was a member of Kapler’s staff in San Francisco; Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, whom Kapler hired as Los Angeles’ minor-league field coordinator during his tenure as farm director; and Royals bench coach Paul Hoover, who was a coach with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2019 to ‘22 while Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was in the Rays’ front office.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington seemed to settle the issue on Sept. 11, saying he fully expects Shelton to return, calling him the “right person to manage this team in 2025.” The only question, particularly in the wake of Bell’s dismissal, is whether owner Bob Nutting is content with the status quo.

Before the season began, Nutting said he expected the team to take a “meaningful step forward,” telling The Athletic, “We collectively believe we can compete for a division and a postseason berth.” A 7-20 collapse starting July 31 ensured neither would occur.

The Pirates are headed for their sixth straight losing season. They need two wins to match last year’s total, and it will hardly be a sign of progress if they somehow surpass that number, considering this is the year they added Paul Skenes.

Cherington is completing his fifth season. Shelton, 54, appears safe unless Nutting decides to completely overhaul the operation.

Last winter, coming off 89 wins in Schneider’s first full season, the Jays chased Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. They ended up with Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kevin Kiermaier, all of whom they traded, and a club that will finish with the fourth- or fifth-worst record in the American League.

General manager Ross Atkins is not above pointing the finger at Schneider, as he did after the controversial removal of José Berríos in Game 2 of the 2023 Wild Card series. But the Jays keep indicating that they view their crash-and-burn as an aberration, and that they intend to roll out Vlad, Bo and Co. once more in 2025.

If Atkins fires Schneider, 44, it will only increase the attention on his own shortcomings. The Jays entered Wednesday with only 12 homers — 12! — from the cleanup spot. That’s not on the manager.

Grady Sizemore, Chicago White Sox

Let’s follow the Sizemore timeline.

Last season, he was a $15-an-hour intern with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This season, the White Sox gave him his first major-league coaching job. On Aug. 8, general manager Chris Getz named him interim manager in place of Pedro Grifol, saying the team would focus on candidates outside their organization for the permanent position. And on Tuesday, Getz reversed himself, saying Sizemore, 42, would be considered for the job.

Now that’s an ascent!

The White Sox still seem likely to make an outside hire, assuming someone wants to take over their record-tying (as of now) 120-loss juggernaut (there are only 30 of these jobs; someone will). Best of luck to that poor soul.

Bud Black is wrapping up his eighth season in Denver as the Rockies manager. (Ron Chenoy / USA Today Sports)

Black, 67, has presided over six straight losing seasons, and the Rockies need to finish 3-1 to avoid their second straight 100-loss campaign. A rebuilding club might benefit from a fresh voice, but virtually everyone likes Black and Rockies owner Dick Monfort operates in an insular bubble, preferring stability over change.

A decision on Black is forthcoming; he is unsigned beyond this season. He had preliminary talks with Monfort about a contract extension during spring training, according to the Denver Post. But no deal was reached, and general manager Bill Schmidt has postponed any talk about Black’s future until the end of the season.

Marmol, 38, appears safe in part because president of baseball operations John Mozeliak plans to return for one more season. Mozeliak is not going to hire a new manager one year before owner Bill DeWitt Jr. installs a new front office. The next head of baseball operations should get to make that choice.

The Cardinals narrowly will avoid losing records in back-to-back full seasons for the first time since 1958-59. Their issues, however, run far deeper than Marmol, who led the team to 93 wins in 2022, his first season. His contract runs through 2026. He will get at least one more shot.

(Top photo of Aaron Boone: Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images)