Red Bull has confirmed the departure of Dan Ticktum from their young driver program.
The young Briton had been with the Austrian company since 2017 and finally got his opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car earlier this year, completing both in-season tests in Bahrain and Spain.
It was also thought for a long time that the 20-year-old would be the next driver to step into a Toro Rosso seat in the future.
Competitively, however, he was frustrated after losing a significant lead in the European Formula 3 standings to finish second to Mick Schumacher last year.
And just this week, Ticktum had lost his seat in Japan's Super Formula following a poor start to the season with one point in three races.
That triggered speculation over his Red Bull future and, talking to Speed Week on Friday, advisor and head of the young driver program Helmut Marko announced his exit.
Now, Mexican driver Patricio O'Ward, who only joined the stable last month, is believed to be to the highest-ranking member of the program and he is making his debut this weekend in F2, replacing the suspended Mahaveer Raghunathan.
