Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has contended that Daniel Ricciardo’s “killer instinct” disappeared in the seasons he spent racing outside the team’s Formula 1 stable.
RB has announced the expected news that Ricciardo will not return once the season resumes next month as Liam Lawson will take his place in the remaining rounds.
The Australian’s protracted time in the series appears to be at an end as he admitted post-race in Singapore that he boasts no desire to race outside of the sharp end.
Ricciardo’s career in F1 started in 2011 and he managed to progress via Red Bull’s sister squad, then known as Toro Rosso, to ascend to the senior setup come 2014.
But despite outclassing multiple-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel as he took three wins that season, his arrival coincided with the team beginning a barren title run.
Max Verstappen’s emergence alongside him prompted Ricciardo to elect to leave Red Bull to move to Renault for 2019, where he landed two podiums in two seasons.
A switch to a McLaren on the rise promised much, but Ricciardo struggled against Lando Norris and was trounced despite landing an eighth F1 win at Monza in 2021.
Marko has claimed that spell in the midfield contributed to Ricciardo being unable to rediscover his best on his return to F1 with the Faenza-based squad last season.
“I think the decision to leave Red Bull Racing was the turning point in his career,” Marko told Motorsport-Total.
“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.”
Marko explains Ricciardo’s initial Red Bull F1 exit
Marko believes that concerns about receiving equal status alongside a growing Verstappen and scepticism over Red Bull’s partnership with Honda prompted his exit.
“He had certain reservations about the Honda engine and apparently he listened more to the sweet talk of Renault and Cyril Abiteboul,” he divulged.
“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.”
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