Helmut Marko makes major revelation about Daniel Ricciardo's departure from RB

Helmut Marko has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo knew about his exit from the team during the Singapore GP race weekend. Prior to the race, reports were circulating that the weekend in Singapore would be the last for Ricciardo as an RB driver and he would be replaced by Liam Lawson in Austin.

What was however notable to the media was Ricciardo's demeanor. He seemed more confident about his future on Thursday but as the weekend progressed, he became less and less certain. He didn't have the greatest of races and, in the end, was pit to put on fresh soft tires for the fastest lap. Post-race, it seemed as if Ricciardo was informed about his exit.

According to F1 photographer Kym Ilman, Ricciardo stayed back in the paddock and was the last to leave in Singapore as he tried to soak everything in one last time. Contrary to the speculation that a decision had not been made by then, Helmut Marko has revealed that the team had already informed him, as quoted by racingnews365. He said:

"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."

He added,

"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."

Helmut Marko admits Daniel Ricciardo lost something by the time he returned to Red Bull

Looking back, Daniel Ricciardo's stint at RB had a few highlights but unfortunately, it wasn't as impressive as one would have expected from the driver to warrant a promotion to Red Bull. The Australian was put in that seat to assess if he could replace Sergio Perez. When that didn't happen, keeping him was not a viable thing for the team.

Marko felt that the pace that the driver had and the killer instinct with which Ricciardo used to operate was just not there anymore and that hurt him in the long run. He said,

"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."

Daniel Ricciardo's path back to F1 seems unlikely. It does appear that Red Bull is not willing to invest any more time in him, and that leaves him with no viable options for now.

The driver got several farewell messages from many on the F1 grid since the announcement, as it might be the end of the road for him in the sport.