Daniel Ricciardo’s worrying response to Helmut Marko’s comments amid his uncertain F1 future

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Plenty of drivers on the Formula 1 grid can trace their careers back to the Red Bull team but it also points to the high turnover of drivers within their ranks.

The likes of Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon all had to move on to progress in F1 and it appears as though Daniel Ricciardo may be the latest driver to see his time in the team’s program come to an end.

Before the Singapore Grand Prix, Ricciardo knew he was fighting for one of two vacant seats on the 2025 grid with the other being at Sauber.

RB had already confirmed that Yuki Tsunoda would be staying with the team for next year and the Japanese driver put in another fantastic performance in qualifying to start in the top ten.

Liam Lawson appears to be being lined up to replace Ricciardo from Austin onwards after the upcoming three-week break in the calendar.

Ricciardo was dejected when speaking to the press after his Q1 exit in Singapore but a report from ESPN has highlighted how he reacted to a question about a comment from Helmut Marko about his future.

Marko has previously said that RB is meant to be a team to develop young drivers and he is said to prefer continuing with Lawson in the future with Christian Horner one of Ricciardo’s biggest fans.

However, even Horner couldn’t give a straight answer on Ricciardo’s future, suggesting that the Marina Bay Street Circuit may be the last time we see the eight-time race winner in a Formula 1 car.

Daniel Ricciardo frustrated after hearing Helmut Marko’s comments on his future

The report from ESPN suggests that Ricciardo was irritated when Marko’s comments were brought up during his post-race interview.

Ricciardo suggested at the beginning of the weekend that he would be back in the frame to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull if he scored a podium in Singapore, such is the fickle nature of the Formula 1 driver’s market.

However, when that was put to Marko, he remarked: “He said that if he finishes on the podium, the situation will look completely different. I totally agree with him.”

Reporters in the Singapore paddock noticed a change in Ricciardo’s body language when Marko’s comments were put to him and he was very careful about how he replied.

Eventually, Ricciardo said in response to the Red Bull advisor’s remark: “You can’t just go from one race to another. Like, that’s not OK.

“But I did think today was going to be OK. Yeah, no, that’s… yeah, I’ll say no more.”

Ted Kravitz tells Red Bull what they have to do amid Ricciardo’s uncertain future

Heading into the race weekend whispers about Ricciardo’s future existed but were immediately perpetuated by how people in the media were talking about the Australian’s next steps.

Martin Brundle shared what he had heard about Ricciardo’s short-term future at RB, while David Croft believed Max Verstappen ‘let slip’ what was happening to Ricciardo after Singapore.

Ricciardo potentially showed that the pressure was getting to him with his performance in qualifying and he will start eight positions behind his teammate.

Ted Kravitz thinks Red Bull need to be more honest with Ricciardo and even if privately they’ve already decided his future and let him know the situation, they’ve not done him any favours by letting the speculation build up around him.

Sunday’s race won’t be easy for the experienced Australian but anything can happen on the streets of Singapore.