'The Killer Instinct Was Gone': Helmut Marko Opens Up About The Downfall Of Ricciardo Post Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo was announced that he was being removed from his seat in the RB team and would be leaving Formula One with no seat for next season. It was the end of a 14-year journey as the Aussie will no longer feature in Formula One. Ricciardo's last race in F1 was the Singapore Grand Prix where he snatched up the fastest lap. Daniel Ricciardo had witnessed his prime when he used to drive for Red Bull, but ever since he left the team, his career has been on a downhill trajectory. 

Recently Red Bull racing advisor Helmut Marko opened up on what he felt about how Ricciardo's career had gone ever since he left Red Bull. 

Helmut Marko Opens About Ricciardo's Career Trajectory 

Helmut Marko recently stated that he felt Ricciardo had lost his magic ever since he left Red Bull. He believes that Ricciardo's career has gone downhill ever since he left Red Bull and he was not the same driver he was in Red Bull. 

"I think the decision to leave Red Bull Racing was the turning point in his career. Then he didn't have a winning car at either Renault or McLaren. He did win at Monza, but those were special circumstances.

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"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," said Marko while speaking to Motorsport Total. 

Ricciardo And The Renault Offer 

Helmut Marko also gave insights into Ricciardo's decision to join Renault. He stated that Ricciardo believed that he could not beat Max Verstappen in equal machinery and thus went looking for a faster car. This decision from Ricciardo turned out to be a massive blunder on the Aussie's part. 

Read More: Liam Lawson Announced as Daniel Ricciardo’s Replacement at VCARB F1

"He had certain reservations about the Honda engine and apparently he listened more to the sweet talk of Renault and Cyril Abiteboul. 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," Helmut Marko further added. 

RB have now replaced Daniel Ricciardo with Liam Lawson.