The truth behind Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Red Bull’s VCARB team has finally been revealed.
Racing Bull CEO Peter Bayer has shared details of the moments leading up to the Singapore GP, and explained why his team did not announce (ahead of the event) that it would be the Australian driver’s final race.
While speculation was at an all-time high that Ricciardo was finished, Red Bull remained quiet, eventually putting the F1 world, and Ricciardo, out of their misery in the days after.
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Red Bull was criticised for not giving Ricciardo a proper send-off, but Bayer says they were acting on his orders.
“We had agreed with Daniel that we would not communicate it,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.
“We knew that we would look a bit outdated as a team. But we also did it to protect the driver. It was his wish.
But Bayer also suspected Ricciardo was a bit in denial … and possibly even thought he could change people’s minds.
“He believed right to the end that he would finish at the front in qualifying and show everyone,” he said.
“I’ve never seen such mental strength in an athlete. And I’ve been in a lot of sports.
“It was a terrible moment when he exited in Q1. You could already hear on the radio that his world had collapsed.”
After that moment, the team again discussed with Ricciardo how to handle his farewell.
“We then spoke to him again on Saturday. We sat together in our office at two o’clock in the morning and asked him what we should do now,” Bayer said.
“He then told us that we should just let him drive the race. He just didn’t want any nonsense.
“As a team, we put ourselves in front of him.
“If Daniel had driven all the way to Abu Dhabi, then of course we would have celebrated his farewell with fireworks and a photo on the grid, just like (Kimi) Räikkönen back then.
“That’s what everyone would have wanted.”
But unfortunately for fans of the much-loved Aussie, it was not what Ricciardo wanted.
RB Formula One principal Laurent Mekies previously described the situation as frustrating, and also admitted that the eight-time race-winner’s departure could have been handled better.
“It was frustrating, and yes, you’re right, it was not ideal to go through (Singapore) in that way, first of all for him, on a professional and on a personal matter, and for the whole team around him,” said the Frenchman.
“Yes, Daniel was aware. We did have discussions before the weekend. For many different reasons, we chose together to go into that weekend without announcing. And from that point onwards, we had to deal with it.
“It’s a decision that, in hindsight, we may or may not do differently,” he said.
– With AAP