Helmut Marko reveals Daniel Ricciardo’s ‘reservations’ that made him leave Red Bull

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Daniel Ricciardo endured a difficult exit from Formula 1 after the Singapore Grand Prix after multiple seasons in the midfield.

The Australian driver was at the front of the field during his five seasons for Red Bull, winning seven races for the Austrian team.

Ricciardo battled with Max Verstappen over three years as teammates but surprisingly chose to join Renault in 2019.

Helmut Marko explained while speaking on the Formel1.de YouTube channel that one of the key reasons for the Australian leaving the team in 2018 was his lack of enthusiasm about the Honda engine.

Helmut Marko explained that Daniel Ricciardo had ‘reservations’ over the Honda engine in F1

Red Bull had become impatient over their engine partner Renault before splitting with the French manufacturer at the end of 2018.

Honda were the only option for the Austrian team ahead of 2019, and the company had just suffered from a lot of unreliability at McLaren and Toro Rosso.

READ MORE: What Red Bull had to ‘sacrifice’ at the Singapore Grand Prix to deliver ‘pure performance’

The Japanese manufacturer slowly developed their power unit and became very competitive, helping Verstappen win multiple world championships.

Marko explained that there was no financial difference between Red Bull and Renault’s proposal but Honda’s lack of form made it difficult for Ricciardo to stay at Red Bull.

He said: “Ricciardo had reservations about the Honda engine that would have to come to us, and he just listened more to Renault’s request, and financially, there was no difference between what the company offered and what we offered.”

Daniel Ricciardo struggled in Formula 1’s midfield after leaving Red Bull

Ricciardo moved to Renault in 2019 and spent two years with the French team. Despite scoring two third-place finishes in 2020, he moved to McLaren the following year.

This decision yielded victory at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, but he was outclassed by teammate Lando Norris over their two seasons together.

He didn’t start the 2023 F1 season on the grid but replaced Nyck De Vries midway through that year at RB, before enduring a difficult time, although the rest of the F1 grid still respected Ricciardo.