Helmut Marko: Ricciardo was aware of the decision in advance

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, commenting on the decision to end the partnership with Daniel Ricciardo, said the Australian driver had been informed of the team’s decision before the Singapore Grand Prix.

“The timing of our public announcement of our departure was due to a number of factors,” says Helmut Marko. “Daniel was informed in advance and his best lap was a worthy farewell performance. A fast lap showed that Daniel has potential, but not permanently and not at a level that justifies a move to Red Bull Racing. But it was a flawless performance.

It was made very clear to Daniel that he would have to perform significantly better than Yuki Tsunoda, but he only managed to do so in a few races. Therefore, it became clear that the story of the return of the prodigal son to Red Bull Racing was impossible.

Daniel said very well after the finish that he had found inner peace. He has faced the situation and now we will find out what his plans are for the future.”

Helmut Marko thinks Ricciardo’s decision to leave Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018 was the turning point after which his career went downhill: “He didn’t get a winning car at Renault or McLaren. In 2021 he won the race at Monza, but there were special circumstances.

I don’t know what exactly happened to him, because if we knew, we would have helped him. But his speed, his ability to brake late… Over the last few years he has been trying to do something, but he has already lost his former grip.

He once had certain doubts about our decision to abandon the Renault engines in favor of Honda. Apparently he listened to the sweet promises of Renault and Cyril Abiteboul. Financially there was not much difference between their proposal and our proposal.

I said to Daniel, “After you leave us, you will drink champagne from a shoe on stage much less often.” I don’t think we’ve seen him on the podium very often at Renault.

He came to us and in his first season he was 3-0 ahead of Sebastian Vettel in terms of victories. Daniil Kvyat was then faster than Ricciardo at times, but as the season progressed Daniel kept the situation under control. And then Max came along and became stronger and stronger, and that was certainly one of the reasons why Daniel chose Renault.”