by RB CEO Peter Bayer has provided an update on the recent sacking of Daniel Ricciardo and the manner in which it happened following the Singapore Grand Prix.
After the race at the Marina Bay Circuit, Red Bull announced that Ricciardo would be replaced by Liam Lawson for the remaining races this season.
The eight-time F1 race winner was reportedly told during the event itself that the Singapore GP would be his last, something Bayer has denied.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed during the recent three-week break that Ricciardo was informed of the company’s decision to replace him with Lawson ahead of the Singapore GP.
Bayer also confirmed that the Faenza club had clearly communicated the decision to Ricciardo.
Ricciardo didn’t receive a big farewell from Formula 1 as the driver and team had not confirmed at the time that it would be the end, although it was clear what RB was being criticized for.
“Perhaps from my point of view I look at it more from the commercial, communication and marketing side,” said Bayer Sky DE.
“Then perhaps it could have been organized differently. I also think that the farewell would have been different if, for example, he had raced until the end of the season.”
“But it is important for us as a team to recognize that we communicated very transparently and very, very openly and honestly with Daniel. We spoke to him again on the Wednesday before the race.” [in Singapore] and he said, “No, we’ll keep going.”
“Then we spoke to him again from Saturday to Sunday night at 2am in Singapore and then he said, ‘No, I just want to do the race. Those I care about know this.’ And it could have been done for the others.” “We set off big fireworks, but that wasn’t what we wanted.”
Current Ricciardo announcement
RB remains in touch with Ricciardo and spoke to the 35-year-old before the US Grand Prix, who is still in good spirits.
“For us, the driver’s wishes were the deciding factor,” added Bayer. “Like I said, it could have been different, but I think it was good for him.”
“And we spoke to him on the phone the day before yesterday. He’s happy, he’s doing well. He is happy with that. He’s happy with how it went.”
RB team boss Laurent Mekies also confirmed that Ricciardo and the team were clear before the Singapore GP that it would be the driver’s last lap with the team, but that it was “frustrating” that everyone had to pretend as if nothing would change.
“I think the answer is: yes, it was frustrating, and yes, you’re right, it wasn’t ideal to spend the weekend that way, especially for him, professionally and personally, and for the whole team around him around,” Mekies said.
“Yes, Daniel was aware of it. We had discussions before the weekend. For many different reasons, we have collectively decided to go into this weekend without notice.”
“And from then on we had to deal with it. It’s a decision that we may or may not make differently in retrospect. But it is something that we, both the team and the drivers, have had to go through now.”
