'Leaving us was the turning point'- Red Bull Boss Helmut Marko on Daniel Ricciardo's downfall in Formula 1 career

Red Bull boss Helmut Marco has revealed the reasons behind Daniel Ricciardo’s sacking from the Red Bull contract mid-way through the season. RB team has dropped Daniel Ricciardo and replaced him with Liam Lawson. This marks the end of the 35-year-old Australian racer F1 career.

He was one of the leading drivers during his stint at Red Bull Racing. He saw a decline after he moved from Red Bull to Renault in 2018 and later switched to McLaren. He then moved to the RB team which is Red Bulls Junior team. This year he was given the task of staying ahead of his teamate in points. But Ricciardo was completely outpaced by Yuki Tsunoda.

Helmut Marko asseses Daniel Ricciardo's Career

🚨 Helmut Marko has made it clear that Daniel Ricciardo has a long term contract is therefore not available (for a move to Mercedes)

[https://t.co/3IDVKb1eMr] pic.twitter.com/6ljYTMu2Cp

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) February 3, 2024

Talking about Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 Career Red Bull Motor Sport Advisor Helmut Marko said, “I think the decision to leave Red Bull Racing was the turning point of his career.” Marko feels after leaving Red Bull Racing Daniel’s F1 career started to fall downwards and never took off. He says, “Then he didn't have a winning car at either Renault or McLaren. He did win at Monza, but those were special circumstances.

I don't know what exactly happened, because if we knew, we would have helped him. But the speed and, above all, this late braking, and then he goes left or right…. In these last few years, he tried but it was no longer there, the killer instinct was gone.”

Marko feels Daniel Ricciardo didn't believe in the Honda engine project. Marko added “He had certain reservations about the Honda engine and he listened more to the sweet talk of Renault and Cyril Abiteboul. Financially, there wasn't much difference between what Renault offered him and what we offered. I also told him: ‘Shoeys will be hard for you’. I don't think we've seen Renault on the podium a lot. 

Helmut Marko thinks Max Verstappen becoming stronger and becoming the lead driver at Red Bull was one of the reasons Daniel moved to Renault. Ricciardo’s final race was at the Singapore GP where he secured the fastest lap of the race award and a single point. However, Daniel Ricciardo can still be linked with the Red Bull team as he could do PR activities for the Red Bull team, especially in the US where he is one of the most popular drivers. 

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