Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed Daniel Ricciardo reneged on a handshake agreement with the Formula 1 team in 2018 when he chose to head to Renault.
Ricciardo’s career in F1 has appeared to come to a conclusion with the news earlier this week that he has lost his seat at RB to Liam Lawson with six races remaining.
The Australian had returned to the sport with the Faenza-based squad last summer with the desire to return to the drive that he vacated once the 2018 season ended.
Ricciardo seemed destined to extend his long-term relationship with Red Bull in mid-2018 when he made the bombshell decision to depart to a midfield Renault team.
His surprise switch to the Enstone-based squad delivered two podiums in two seasons prior to a torrid stint with McLaren which ended with him exiting his deal early.
Ricciardo might have been pursuing championships with Red Bull in the circumstance where he had extended, which Marko has admitted seemed to be on the cards.
However, the Austrian has divulged that Ricciardo’s caution surrounding Red Bull’s impending engine partnership with Honda saw him backtrack on the agreed terms.
“It was an event on the main square in Graz,” Marko told Formula1.de. “Afterwards, we sat down together and actually came to an agreement. Sealed with a handshake.
“He then travelled to Salzburg and did the same there with Dietrich Mateschitz [Red Bull’s founder].
“But he had certain reservations about the Honda engine, which would have come to us, and apparently listened more to Renault and Cyril Abiteboul.”
Marko highlighted that Mateschitz, who died in 2022, was displeased that Ricciardo elected to reverse his decision, despite them having shaken hands on a new deal.
“He was very keen to ensure that what you seal with a handshake is honoured,” he added.
Ricciardo has no regrets over F1 career
Ricciardo conceded earlier this season that it would be reasonable to suggest that he wouldn’t have picked the same avenue back then based on what he knows now.
“It’s not that I look back and have regrets,” he told Planet F1.
“But I just look back and I understand: ‘OK, this happened for this [reason]’ – and I chose that at the time.
“But I know why I made that decision. If I thought what I thought now, would I have made a different decision? Probably.
“It doesn’t mean I regret that decision at the time, that was just where my head was at.”
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