Racing Bulls (RB) team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted the exit of Daniel Ricciardo from the team and Formula 1 was not handled in a “good enough manner”, Afrosport reports.
The Singapore Grand Prix was the Australian’s last race with Liam Lawson taking over.
Speculation over his departure was not an open secret but there was no official confirmation from either RB or the sister Red Bull Racing team.
Ricciardo also did not formally announce it at anytime despite repeated questions over his future.
Mekies, speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, accepted that the eight-time race winner’s departure should have been handled differently.
“Of course we are not happy and we don’t think we have done it in a good enough manner. There is no argument about that,” he said.
“We have had many discussions with Daniel and both the team and the driver were aware we were going in to that weekend with this impossible situation to deal with.
“Wechose together for many decent reasons to keep it confidential until the end of the weekend. Obviously it meant it went through such a difficult weekend that we quickly realised it was not the thing we would have liked.”
Despite the regret, Mekies is happy to that Ricciardo ultimately received acclaim from the F1 fanbase having built popularity with his personality.
“Having said that it was wrong, and it was something we would do better if you had to do it again, I think the whole paddock, all the fans out there they found a way,” he added.
“They found the way to get the love to him, to get the empathy to him, and maybe even more than if we had done perhaps something more traditional.
“Daniel has shown there he is bigger than an F1 driver, he is probably bigger than F1. We all love Daniel and I’m sure somehow this got to him the right away.”
Ricciardo’s F1 career saw him turn out for Hispania Racing, Renault, McLaren, Red Bull and the previous RB iterations (Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri).
