Helmut Marko believes that Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season was a pivotal moment in the Aussie’s F1 career, one after which the sport’s ‘honey badger’ lost his killer instinct.
On Thursday, RB confirmed that Liam Lawson will replace Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2024 season, the Kiwi racing alongside Yuki Tsunoda from next month’s US Grand Prix in Austin.
It was a predictable outcome for Ricciardo, a veteran of 257 Grands Prix who achieved 8 wins and 32 podiums during his 14-year tenure in F1.
A Red Bull junior who started his career with Spanish outfit HRT in 2011, Ricciardo raced for Toro Rosso for two season before graduating to Red Bull racing in 2014, initiating a successful four-stint with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
However, his fortunes changed when he left the bulls for Renault in 2019, swayed by team boss Cyril Abiteboul, but also by Max Verstappen’s emergence at Red Bull.
Despite his reputation, Ricciardo struggled with the uncompetitive Renault machinery and failed to replicate his earlier success.
After two challenging seasons, he moved to McLaren, where he achieved one more victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. However, his time at McLaren was plagued by inconsistency, and he was released a year before his contract was due to end in 2022.
Reflecting on Ricciardo’s trajectory in an exclusive interview with German website Motorsport-Total.com, Marko pinpointed the 35-year-old’s exit from Red Bull as a turning point in his F1 career.
"I think the decision to leave Red Bull Racing was the turning point in his career,” explained Red Bull’s motorsport advisor. “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."
According to Marko, Ricciardo's doubts about his role alongside Verstappen and the performance of Red Bull's Honda power units, which the team was set to use from 2019, contributed to his decision to leave the team.
"He had certain reservations about the Honda engine and apparently he listened more to the sweet talk of Renault and Cyril Abiteboul," added the Austrian. "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.
"He came to us, beating Vettel with three-to-zero victories in 2014 and after that, Daniil Kvyat was faster than him at times, but over the season he also had him under control.
"And then Max came and he got stronger and stronger, so that was certainly one of the reasons for his decision to choose Renault over us."
Last weekend in Singapore, there was uncertainty over Ricciardo’s fate, although the guard of honor offered by his RB team upon his return to the outfit’s hospitality unit after the race was a tell-tale sign of what was to come.
In reality, Ricciardo had been kept in the loop by Red Bull according to Marko who considered the Aussie’s fastest lap as a fitting send-off.
"[The timing] was related to a variety of factors and obligations," he explained. "He was informed, and the worthy farewell performance was, I think, the fastest lap.
"That still showed what potential he has, not continuously and not at the level that would have justified him coming to Red Bull Racing, but that was an impeccable performance.
"I think it was clearly communicated that he had to be significantly better than Yuki Tsunoda and he only managed that in a few races, so it was clear that this story of the prodigal son rejoining Red Bull Racing unfortunately didn't work out.
"He said very well that he is at peace with himself, and he has come to terms with the situation and we will see what his plans for the future are."
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