Marko: Ricciardo's killer instinct was gone

Ricciardo contested his final Formula 1 race last Sunday in Singapore, as VCARB announced on Thursday that he will be replaced by Liam Lawson from Austin onwards.

The rumors surrounding Ricciardo's future were in full swing over the weekend in Singapore, and he was given a farewell by his team and fellow drivers as he bowed out with the fastest lap of the race. He remained for a long time in his car after the race ended claiming afterwards that he was savoring his final time in the cockpit.

Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of the 2018 F1 season to join Renault, where he spent two seasons, after which he jumped ship to McLaren, where he also raced for two seasons, but then he was shown the door to make way for Oscar Piastri, the highlight of his sting at Woking being the win at Monza in 2021.

Red Bull gave Ricciardo another shot at the top flight by placing him at VCARB in the middle of the 2023 F1 season (it was AlphaTauri then) as he replaced Nyck de Vries, but the fact remains he was never the same driver the team used to know and was unable to deliver more often than not beaten by Yuki Tsunoda.

Marko claimed that Ricciardo lost his way after leaving Red Bull and told Motorsport Total: "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.

"I don't know what exactly happened, because if we knew, we would have helped him," Marko pointed out. "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."

Marko went on analyzing why Ricciardo decided to leave Red Bull, he added: "He [Ricciardo] 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," the Austrian claimed.

Ricciardo was informed that Singapore would be his last F1 race with VCARB after failing to deliver what was expected of him - beating Tsunoda.

Marko said: "[The timing] was related to a variety of factors and obligations. He was informed, and the worthy farewell performance was, I think, the fastest lap.

"That still showed what potential he has, not continuously and not at the level that would have justified him coming to Red Bull Racing, but that was an impeccable performance.

"I think it was clearly communicated that he has to be significantly better than Yuki Tsunoda, and he only managed that in a few races, so it was clear that this story of the prodigal son rejoining Red Bull Racing unfortunately didn't work out.

"He said very well that he is at peace with himself, and he has come to terms with the situation, and we will see what his plans for the future are," Marko concluded.

Ricciardo leaves F1 having raced in 257 grands prix, he won eight races, was on pole three times, and finished on the podium 24 times.