Helmut Marko’s ruthless Daniel Ricciardo verdict with more exit reasons shared

Daniel Ricciardo received a second chance that only Red Bull would have offered, but only twice did he show performance worthy of a return to the senior squad.

That is the latest verdict cast by Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who felt the eight-time F1 grand prix winner Ricciardo – shown the door after Singapore – no longer demonstrated his trademark skillset which made him such a highly-regarded racer.

Red Bull gave Daniel Ricciardo ‘second chance that nobody else would’

After leaving Red Bull at the end of 2018 for Renault in a shock switch, Ricciardo would later move on to McLaren where a disastrous spell saw his deal terminated after his second season, a year before it expired.

It looked like his career could have been over at that point, but Red Bull brought him back into the fold and partway through 2023, he returned to the grid with their junior team, replacing Nyck de Vries, Ricciardo continuing in that spot up until the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix which proved to be his final race.

Ricciardo’s ultimate goal was to return to Red Bull, but only twice did Marko see a level of performance worthy of that recall. Instead, in his second chance which Marko said only Red Bull would have afforded Ricciardo, he did not prove to be the same driver that he once was in the Austrian’s assessment.

“Daniel Ricciardo’s departure was only announced after the race weekend in Singapore for compelling reasons relating to commercial agreements,” Marko wrote in his Speedweek column.

“He himself was informed in good time and – to put it in his own words – he is at peace with himself. I also think that the fastest race lap he set was a worthy farewell performance.

Analysis: Where did it all go wrong for Daniel Ricciardo?

👉 What happened to Daniel Ricciardo? The compelling theories to explain his sharp F1 decline

👉 What happened next? The nine Red Bull drivers who didn’t land the top seat

“He was given a second chance that nobody else would have given him. And this was done on the premise that a return to Red Bull Racing is possible if his performance is up to scratch. The Racing Bulls team was therefore only ever intended as a stopover.

“But the necessary performance only flashed up twice, once with a fourth place in the Miami sprint this year and last year in Mexico.

“But apart from that, the speed wasn’t there and the consistency wasn’t there either. The whole performance that would have justified a promotion to Red Bull Racing was missing. But that was the purpose of the whole thing.

“If we knew why the performance wasn’t up to scratch, then we would have done everything we could to change that. But the same killer instinct was simply no longer recognisable. He was famous for his uncompromising overtaking, for braking at the last point. But that was no longer the case either.”

In Ricciardo’s place, Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson will step up to contest the final six rounds of F1 2024.

The Kiwi debuted last season when replacing the injured Ricciardo for a five-race stint, scoring his first F1 points with a P9 finish in Singapore, as he registered two points to zero versus Yuki Tsunoda – his team-mate once more – across their five races together at the Red Bull second team.

Read next: ‘Dear old’ Jacques Villeneuve ‘properly wound up’ Daniel Ricciardo in Christian Horner reveal