Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull lifeline offered as Helmut Marko proposes new F1 role

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has confirmed that the team have offered Daniel Ricciardo an F1 lifeline with an ambassadorial role.

And he doubts that the Australian will want to continue his racing career in another category of motorsport after being dropped by Red Bull junior team VCARB this week.

Helmut Marko not convinced Daniel Ricciardo will race on after Red Bull F1 exit

VCARB announced on Thursday that Ricciardo has been dropped for the rest of the F1 2024 season, with Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson stepping up to partner Yuki Tsunoda for the final six races, starting at next month’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

The decision came after Ricciardo appeared to contest his final F1 race at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, where the 35-year-old cut an emotional figure and was treated to a guard of honour in the paddock.

PlanetF1.com revealed this week that Ricciardo has the chance to maintain his ties with Red Bull in another form, but is yet to make a decision.

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Appearing on the Formula1.de YouTube channel, Marko confirmed that Red Bull are “interested” in extending their collaboration with Ricciardo due to his popularity among fans, with the company seeing the veteran as an asset in the US market.

He said: “He is one of the most popular Formula 1 drivers, especially in the USA.”

The Red Bull chief added that Ricciardo “wants to have time to think about his entire future” and has not yet agreed to stay on with the team.

Ricciardo’s next move is unclear, with the Australian known to be an avid fan of NASCAR having raced in F1 with the number three – synonymous with NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt – as his official driver number since 2014.

However, Marko believes that Ricciardo will draw a line underneath his racing career with the Perth-born star unlikely to accept Red Bull’s offer of an ambassadorial role if he no longer wants to race actively.

Pressed on Ricciardo potentially moving to another series, Marko said: “I don’t think so.

“And if he no longer drives actively, does he even want these PR activities?”

Ricciardo ruled out a move to IndyCar during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and raised the possibility that his F1 exit could mark the end of his racing career, admitting that he may not find “true fulfillment doing something else.”

He said: “IndyCar still scares me.

“I’ve thought about it because I also thought about it a couple years ago when I knew I wasn’t going to start the 2023 season, but I don’t know.

“I know I’m still a competitor. I know I still have a lot of fire in me, but maybe that itch is scratched doing something else.

“It’s hard. It’s even talking about just being in the sport and maybe fighting for a 10th place every now and then.

“It’s maybe the same with doing another series – and no disrespect to other series, but because I’ve been there and experienced the highest of the highs, will I get true fulfillment doing something else?

“[There’s] no guarantee I’ll be good as something else, so is that gonna actually scratch the itch and give me what I want?

“I don’t know. I’ll probably say ‘no’ more than ‘yes’ [to extending my racing career] but these are things I’ll think about if I’m not in this position.”

Speaking after the race in Singapore, Ricciardo also rejected a return to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver having briefly held the role after leaving McLaren at the end of the 2022 season.

He explained: “Obviously, last year [a reserve role] made a lot of sense to keep one foot in the door and obviously the big picture was to try and get back at Red Bull.

“I think if I was to do that again, there’s not really [much point]. I’m not going to restart my career.

“I’m also 35 and I still showed the pace that I’ve had over the years, but it’s obviously been evident that it’s been harder for me to show it every weekend.

“And maybe that is a little bit of an age thing. I think it definitely came easier for me when I was 25 as opposed to 35, but also maybe the competition is just increasing.

“I think that’s probably a common thing with all sports: simulators are getting better, the kids are getting younger, so naturally they’re [more prepared].

“And they have access to all the onboards now, so they can watch and study everyone.

“So maybe it’s just that the level’s increased and it’s probably a tall task for me to fight at that level week in, week out.

“I can’t be disappointed with that. I’m happy that, once upon a time, I could do it and that was a lot of fun.

“And if this is it, I want to make sure I walk away or leave the sport with good memories of it and it doesn’t get into that place where it’s just a grind and I’m out in Q1 every weekend.

“That’s obviously not fun.”

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