Red Bull’s 2024 season has been dominated by uncertainty and off-track controversies. Perhaps the biggest question mark was answered after the Singapore GP, when it was confirmed Liam Lawson would replace Daniel Ricciardo. According to Helmut Marko, the 8-time winner did not produce the necessary performances to earn a promotion.
Red Bull admit to internal disagreements about Ricciardo
For most of the year, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have regularly contradicted each other. The Red Bull team principal has typically been more hopeful about Ricciardo, whilst Marko was less enthusiastic.
Partly because of this, the decision to replace Ricciardo was somewhat uncoordinated. Helmut Marko wanted the Australian replaced much sooner, whereas Horner wanted to wait for longer before pulling the trigger.
Writing in his personal column on Speedweek, Marko reviewed the Ricciardo situation:
“Daniel Ricciardo’s departure was announced after the race weekend in Singapore for compelling reasons related to commercial agreements.
“He himself was informed in good time and – to use his own words – he is at peace with himself. I also think that the fastest lap he set was a fitting farewell performance.
“He was given a second chance that no one else would have given him. And that was under the premise that a return to Red Bull Racing was possible if he performed well enough.
“The Racing Bulls team was always intended as a stopover. But the necessary performance only came twice, once with a fourth place in the sprint in Miami this year and last year in Mexico.
“But otherwise the speed was not there, and the consistency was not there either. The performance that would have justified a promotion to Red Bull Racing was missing… the same killer instinct was no longer there.”
Lack of direction at Red Bull
Ironically, Red Bull are back to square one after the speculation and uncertainty of this year. Liam Lawson, who many expected to be on the grid at the beginning of 2024, returns to the team where he delivered such impressive performances last year.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda remains the benchmark at VCARB. The 24-year-old has become a rare source of stability at the Italian team in recent years.
Of course, Ricciardo’s departure does not spell the end of Red Bull’s driver uncertainty. Big decisions about Perez, Tsunoda, Lawson, Iwasa and Hadjar still need to be made in the upcoming months.
As ever, Christian Horner’s team can be expected to keep the F1 world guessing about their decisions.
