Daniel Ricciardo broke 'handshake agreement' before Red Bull exit ...

Helmut Marko has claimed that Daniel Ricciardo broke separate handshake agreements with him and Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz prior to his departure from the team at the end of the F1 2018 season.

Ricciardo was dropped by Red Bull junior team VCARB this week, with Liam Lawson stepping in to partner Yuki Tsunoda for the final six races of F1 2024.

The Australian’s exit was confirmed after an emotional weekend in Singapore, where Ricciardo raced amid mounting rumours surrounding his future.

Ricciardo was treated to a guard of honour after the race at Marina Bay, with the Singapore GP widely expected to prove the 35-year-old’s last F1 appearance.

Ricciardo enjoyed the most successful stint at his career with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, when he claimed all but one of his eight career victories.

However, the Perth-born star shocked the team when he opted to join Renault during the summer break in 2018.

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His decision came just weeks after Red Bull announced a works partnership with Honda from the beginning of the 2019 season, with the Japanese manufacturer bouncing back from a difficult spell with McLaren to power Ricciardo’s former team-mate Max Verstappen to three consecutive World Championships from 2021.

Despite adding a further victory to his tally at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ricciardo struggled to recapture the form of his Red Bull career before being dropped by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season.

Ricciardo returned to a race seat with VCARB (then AlphaTauri) in mid-2023 following a brief spell as Red Bull’s reserve driver, but had largely disappointed since his comeback, scoring points just four times in 26 starts.

Appearing on the Formula1.de YouTube channel, Marko has described the decision to leave Red Bull as “the turning point” of Ricciardo’s career.

And he revealed it came after the Australian had assured both him and Mateschitz that he would sign a new Red Bull contract for 2019 and beyond.

Marko said: “It was an event on the main square in Graz. 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.

“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 commented that Mr Mateschitz, who died in 2022, was unimpressed by Ricciardo’s sudden change of heart, having already shaken hands on a new Red Bull deal.

He added: “He was very keen to ensure that what you seal with a handshake is honoured.”

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com at May’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ricciardo insisted that he has no “regrets” about his decision to leave Red Bull in 2018, but conceded that he would “probably” have come to a different decision on his future in hindsight.

He explained: “It’s not that I look back and have regrets.

“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.”

In a statement published after his VCARB exit was confirmed on Thursday, Ricciardo doubled down on his stance of having no regrets as he insisted he “wouldn’t change” anything from his F1 career.

In a post on social media, he wrote: “I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey.

“To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you.

“To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha thank you.

“It’ll always have its highs and lows but it’s been fun and truth be told I wouldn’t change it.

“Until the next adventure.”

Marko’s latest comments come after he claimed that Ricciardo’s “killer instinct” had deserted him in the closing years of his F1 career, with Red Bull struggling to unlock his former self despite welcoming him back at the start of 2023.

He said: “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.”

Speaking after the Singapore GP, Ricciardo conceded that he can no longer keep up with F1’s new breed of drivers, claiming that advances in technology – including the rise of driver-in-the-loop simulators – has made today’s youngsters better equipped to adapt to F1 compared to drivers of his generation.

He told reporters: “I’m 35 and I still showed the pace that I’ve had over the years, but it’s obviously been evident that it’s been harder for me to show it every weekend.

“And maybe that is a little bit of an age thing. I think it definitely came easier for me when I was 25 as opposed to 35, but also maybe the competition is just increasing.

“I think that’s probably a common thing with all sports: simulators are getting better, the kids are getting younger, so naturally they’re [more prepared].

“And they have access to all the onboards now, so they can watch and study everyone.

“So maybe it’s just that the level’s increased and it’s probably a tall task for me to fight at that level week in, week out.

“I can’t be disappointed with that. I’m happy that, once upon a time, I could do it and that was a lot of fun.

“And if this is it, I want to make sure I walk away or leave the sport with good memories of it and it doesn’t get into that place where it’s just a grind and I’m out in Q1 every weekend.

“That’s obviously not fun.”

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