RB CEO Peter Bayer has delivered an update on the recent axing of Daniel Ricciardo, and the manner of which it happened after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Following the race at the Marina Bay Circuit, it was revealed by Red Bull that Ricciardo would be replaced for the remaining races this season by Liam Lawson.
It was reported that the eight-time F1 race winner was informed that the Singapore GP would be his last during the event itself, 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 before the Singapore GP.
Bayer has also confirmed that the Faenza-based outfit communicated the decision clearly with Ricciardo.
Ricciardo was not given a big farewell by F1, with the driver and the team having not confirmed at the time that it would be the end despite it being clear, something RB has faced criticism for.
“From my point of view, maybe I look at it more from the commercial, communication and marketing side,” Bayer told Sky DE.
“Then maybe you could have organised it differently. I also think the farewell would have been different if he had raced until the end of the season, for example.
“But for us as a team, it’s important to realise that we communicated very transparently and very, very openly and honestly with Daniel. We spoke to him again the Wednesday before the race [in Singapore] and he said, ‘No, we’ll keep the ball rolling’.
“Then we spoke to him again Saturday to Sunday night at 02:00 in Singapore and then he said, ‘No, I just want to drive the race. Those who are important to me know that’. And for the others you could have set off big fireworks, but that was not what we wanted.”
Discussion about this post