No one else would have given Ricciardo a second chance

Helmut Marko, advisor to Red Bull, returned to the ouster of Daniel Ricciardo, believing that his time at Racing Bulls was only supposed to be a “stage”.

A few days after the Singapore Grand Prix, Racing Bulls formalized the replacement of Daniel Ricciardo in favor of young Liam Lawson. An end to the journey for the Australian who notably left the question of the timing of the announcement.

“Daniel Ricciardo’s departure was only announced after the Singapore race weekend for imperative reasons linked to commercial agreements”, indicated Helmut Marko in his column for Speedweek.com.

“He himself was informed in time and, to use his own words, he is at peace with himself. I also think the best race lap he put in was a fitting farewell.”

Also read: Horner claims he saved Ricciardo’s place earlier this season

Ricciardo not efficient enough to replace Pérez

Helmut Marko also defended the choice to remove Daniel Ricciardo, recalling that the second chance given by the Red Bull clan was intended to revive him and allow him to take the seat of Sergio Pérez if the performances were there.

“He was given a second chance that no one else would have given him”, added Marko. “And this was done on the principle that a return to Red Bull Racing was possible if performances were up to par. So the Racing Bulls team was always seen as a step up.”

“But the necessary performance only came twice, once with a fourth place in the sprint in Miami this year and last year in Mexico [7e du Grand Prix, ndlr].”

“But the rest of the time, that speed wasn’t there, and neither was the consistency. He lacked all the performance that would have justified a move to Red Bull Racing. Yet that was the aim of the whole operation.”

“If we knew why the performance was not up to par, we would have done everything to remedy it. But there just wasn’t the same killer instinct anymore. He was famous for his uncompromising overtaking, only to brake at the last moment. But that wasn’t the case anymore either.”

Read also: When a devastated Ricciardo missed victory in Monaco