“Daniel’s not a junior anymore,” Helmut Marko shrugs off a possible comeback for Daniel Ricciardo to Red Bull
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Daniel Ricciardo and Helmut Marko
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko have known each other for years due to the Australian being a part of the Red Bull family previously. It was announced this week that the Australian driver will part ways with McLaren at the end of the season. This has put a big question mark on the 8 time grand prix winner’s future in the sport. Whenever Daniel leaves a team, everyone goes on to hint a return to Red Bull but deep down, it is certain that he won’t end up there again.
Dr Helmut Marko has previously praised Daniel a lot for his work ethics and the time that he spent with the team before he left at the end of 2018. Ricciardo then shifted to Renault for the 19 and 20 seasons after which he signed with McLaren for 2021. This seemed like a great decision at the time but eventually it was clear that the partnership was just not meant to be. A series of poor results and losing out to his teammate in qualifying almost every time, the team decided that they could find a better individual to replace the Aussie for next year.
Helmut Marko already made it clear that Daniel Ricciardo’s return to Red Bull was out of question as Sergio Perez was already under contract till 2024. The Austrian further went on to state that a driver of Daniel’s caliber wouldn’t be pleased with joining a team like Alpha Tauri. This being due to the fact that Red Bull’s sister team is known for taking in junior drivers and developing them for the top teams. Dr Marko went on to further give his thoughts on the situation.
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“Our contracts run until 2024, nothing changes,” Dr Helmut Marko on Daniel Ricciardo’s chances of rejoining the Red Bull family
“Our contracts run until 2024, nothing changes. And Daniel certainly doesn’t want to go to a team like AlphaTauri. Besides, he’s not a junior anymore,” he said.
During his time with Red Bull Racing, Daniel Ricciardo stood on the top step of the podium 7 times. There is a reason why Helmut Marko had promoted him to the top team and Daniel never failed to disappoint. Sadly with his current state, it will be questionable whether he still deserves a seat in F1 or not.
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)