Daniel Ricciardo was given special treatment and still wasn’t good enough to keep his job.
That’s the latest cold farewell message Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has sent the Australian, who continues to be kicked while he is down following his axing at the Singapore Grand Prix.
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Ricciardo had an emotional farewell at his final race, despite Red Bull only officially cutting him loose the following week. Red Bull were also slammed for their handling of the situation.
Marko has been the leading culprit with several classless attacks on the veteran driver — and his latest comments about the 35-year-old have seen him offer a brutal doubling down on the situation.
Marko has written in his Speedweek column that Ricciardo received treatment no other driver would have — but didn’t deliver consistently enough to justify a promotion to the top Red Bull team despite Sergio Perez also struggling to get anywhere near world champion teammate Max Verstappen.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said this week Marko wanted Ricciardo sacked even earlier this year — and it was only Horner’s intervention that stopped the axe from falling.
With Kiwi Liam Lawson contractually demanding to be promoted to race the final six races of the year for the Visa Cash App RB team — Ricciardo was spat out.
Marko’s latest comments paint a picture that the Austrian gave Ricciardo every chance — only for the former McLaren and Renault driver to fail to take it.
“Daniel Ricciardo’s departure was only announced after the race weekend in Singapore for compelling reasons relating to commercial agreements,” Marko wrote in his Speedweek column.
“He himself was informed in good time and – to put it in his own words – he is at peace with himself. I also think that the fastest race lap he set was a worthy farewell performance.
“He was given a second chance that nobody else would have given him. And this was done on the premise that a return to Red Bull Racing is possible if his performance is up to scratch. The Racing Bulls team was therefore only ever intended as a stopover.
“But the necessary performance only flashed up twice, once with a fourth place in the Miami sprint this year and last year in Mexico.
“But apart from that, the speed wasn’t there and the consistency wasn’t there either. The whole performance that would have justified a promotion to Red Bull Racing was missing. But that was the purpose of the whole thing.
“If we knew why the performance wasn’t up to scratch, then we would have done everything we could to change that. But the same killer instinct was simply no longer recognisable. He was famous for his uncompromising overtaking, for braking at the last point. But that was no longer the case either.”
Marko earlier confirmed the team had offered Ricciardo an ambassadorial role, explaining on the Formula1.de YouTube channel that the team wanted to continue its relationship with the popular Aussie.
“He is one of the most popular Formula 1 drivers, especially in the USA,” Marko said.
Marko also confirmed that Ricciardo would be taking time to consider the offer and any others that may come his way.
Ricciardo’s future as a driver is now up in the air and he seems in no rush to decide what will come next.
Horner has even left the door ever so slightly ajar.
“Daniel is just a brilliant character. He’s a brilliant human being. He lights up a room when he walks into it, you know, he’s got that infectious smile,” Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast with Tom Clarkson and former world champion Damon Hill.
“We never did manage to do a toothpaste deal with him! We tried very hard.
“But I hope he stays around the sport and we’ve made it very clear that we want him to remain in an ambassadorial capacity with the team.
“Of course one never really knows, if Liam doesn’t get the job done, if Checo doesn’t get the job done, we know what Daniel’s capability is.
“But I think for him he knows at the age he’s at, he’s had a great career.”
Source Agencies
