Daniel Ricciardo could make a shock appearance at the United States Grand Prix just weeks after his Formula 1 career was ended.

The Australian, who has been replaced by Liam Lawson at Visa Cash App RB, remains one of the most popular F1 drivers in America.

Ricciardo was central to the rise of Netflix sensation Drive to Survive, which has been credited with helping the sport finally crack the US.

During the docuseries’ 2019 debut, the eight-time Grand Prix winner was partnering Max Verstappen at Red Bull, which is where he won all but one of his career races.

Ferrari and Mercedes both refused to take part in the show for its first season, blocking access to F1 big hitters such as Lewis Hamilton.

However, Ricciardo grasped the added spotlight shone on him and became DTS’ breakout star alongside ex-Haas boss Gunther Steiner.

As a result, the 35-year-old, alongside Hamilton, is among the most notable F1 drivers in the US over current world champion Verstappen.

The United States Grand Prix is taking place later this month and will be the first F1 event since Ricciardo’s exit from the sport was sealed.

But Bobby Epstein, chairman of the Circuit of the Americas track that is staging the race, is still hopeful the Aussie will show up.

He said, as quoted by ESPN: “Daniel, he may be able to have just as big of an impact out of the car as he has in it at our grand prix.

“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,” Epstein added.

“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 got a lot of people that would love to shake his hand or get his autograph or take a picture. Just see him around town.

“We’ll keep him busy.”

Following the last round in Singapore, RB confirmed that Lawson would be replacing Ricciardo for the rest of the season.

This isn’t the first time the latter has found himself without an F1 seat, having been released by McLaren in 2022.

Ricciardo returned to Red Bull in a supporting role for 2023 after his contract as Lando Norris’ teammate was torn up.

‘The Honey Badger’ was offered a seat with RB for the past two seasons with the hopes of replacing the underperforming Sergio Perez to rejoin Verstappen.

Perez then surprisingly signed a new two-year extension to stay with the current champions, with RB’s position as a junior Team meaning staying put was never a viable option for veteran Ricciardo.

Nevertheless, fans voiced their frustration that Ricciardo was seemingly denied the chance to have an official last race.

The Perth-born racer fought back tears after his P18 finish in Singapore but stopped short of confirming he had been sacked – with the news not announced until days later.

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has since claimed it was Ricciardo’s decision not to go public in a moment of media genius.

Speaking on the latest Formula For Success podcast the Scot said: “One thing that’s interesting – rumour, rather than I’ve seen it with my own eyes – was that he actually knew from a few races back that it would be finishing in Singapore.

“He had the opportunity, obviously, to make that public and he chose not to.”

He continued: “I know there’s been a lot of reaction negatively people going, ‘why was he not given that that opportunity?’ But I 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 master stroke, 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 – two great opportunities for him to get a lot of air time and make it all about him, where maybe it would have been mixed into a Grand Prix weekend in Singapore.”