Marko wanted to see Ricciardo leave as early as Barcelona

Formula 1 has just bid farewell to one of its main figures on the track. After another disappointing race at the Marina Bay circuit, Racing Bulls, under the leadership of the parent team Red Bull, had no choice but to thank Daniel Ricciardo with immediate effect. The Australian is replaced by Liam Lawson for the remaining six events.

Read also: Daniel Ricciardo fired from Racing Bulls

A choice undoubtedly difficult to make when we know the popularity of the Australian driver, but logical given his performances this season, which have not lived up to the expectations placed on him. The head of the young driver program of the Austrian team, Helmut Marko, recently revisited this point, explaining that the former Renault driver could have returned to Red Bull to replace Sergio Pérez, but that his results ultimately were insufficient.

Results not convincing enough to maintain his position.

The Australian suffered by comparison with Tsunoda and was often outperformed by his Japanese teammate this season (12-6 in qualifying and 8-6 in races in favor of Tsunoda). Ricciardo knew he had to outperform Tsunoda clearly, which he only succeeded in doing on rare occasions. Apart from a fourth place in a sprint race in Miami, Yuki remained superior. It therefore became evident that Ricciardo’s return to Red Bull Racing was no longer conceivable, expressed Helmut Marko.

This lack of results did not please the Austrian team, which had nevertheless given him another chance when he had decided to put him in the second AlphaTauri seat last year to replace Nyck de Vries. For Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, it is above all a lack of consistency that led the Faenza team to part ways with him.

Helmut Marko already wanted to thank Ricciardo in Barcelona.

The British leader revealed that he had tried to keep Daniel Ricciardo in the car for as long as possible. If Marko had played a more direct role in the discussions, DR3 would have left Formula 1 several weeks ago.

( d) He started the season in a rough way, and then Miami was a weekend of two halves. Friday and Saturday morning were fantastic, and it was like the Daniel of old, defending against the Ferraris and outperforming the car. But Saturday afternoon and Sunday were disastrous. Even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car, and he was already under a lot of pressure at that time », Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast. « I did my best to give him as much time as possible in the car so that he could deliver, otherwise he would have been ousted after Barcelona. »

A diverse decision concerning Perez

Regarding their Mexican driver, Horner made a different choice as, despite disappointing results, Pérez will remain in the Red Bull seat until at least the end of the season. The reason for this choice lies in Ricciardo’s results, which have not been satisfactory enough to convince the Milton Keynes team to offer him the Red Bull seat again.

« I think all the drivers are under pressure, but the reason Daniel was in that car was to position himself in case Checo didn’t perform. The problem was that they both had form issues at different times. Checo started the season very strong, and Daniel struggled. Then, of course, as Checo’s form dipped, Daniel started to improve a bit, but it was never convincing enough to say, “Okay, we should change both drivers.”

Translate: Also read: Is it really the end of Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career?

Despite a rather difficult end of collaboration, Red Bull still hopes to continue its association with Ricciardo, the Australian driver who could be useful in promoting the brand abroad. According to recent rumors, an ambassador role may have been offered to him. It now remains to be seen if the man with eight Grand Prix victories will want to stay in the team or leave the world of Formula 1 for good.