Daniel Ricciardo ‘lost his killer instinct’ and was ‘handed a second chance NO ONE else would have given him’, claims Helmut Marko, as Red Bull advisor responds to sacking criticism

Helmut Marko has defended Red Bull’s handling of Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from the Formula One team, insisting that the Australian driver ‘lost his killer instinct’ and was no longer as daring as he used to be on the track.

Ricciardo was shown the door after the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Red Bull advisor, Marko, believing the 35-year-old was no longer showcasing the brawn and guile he had once exhibited during his racing career.

The Western Australian had initially left Red Bull in 2018 for a shock switch to Renault, before joining up with McLaren.

After a disappointing spell with the British racing team, Ricciardo’s contract was mutually terminated and he was offered an F1 lifeline back at Red Bull racing, with the charismatic driver joining his old side as the team’s reserve driver, before going on to join up with AlphaTauri in 2023.

But it appears Marko only saw two driving performances from Ricciardo that appeared worthy of that recall and was not the same driver who had once showcased ‘uncompromising overtaking’ and ‘breaking at the last minute.’

‘Daniel Ricciardo’s departure was only announced after the race weekend in Singapore for compelling reasons relating to commercial agreements,’ Marko wrote in his column for SpeedWeek.

‘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.’