Daniel Ricciardo's selfless act revealed as claims of 'disgraceful' move from Red Bull debunked

Racing Bull CEO Peter Bayer has lifted the lid on the final moments of Daniel Ricciardo's F1 career, declaring the Aussie instructed the Red Bull team to not make a big deal about his final drive. The F1 world was furious with the handling of Ricciardo's departure from Red Bull, with many questioning why he wasn't given a proper farewell, labelling the move 'disgraceful'.

Several racing pundits also slammed Red Bull for not announcing the news before his last race so he could be afforded a grand send-off, especially due to the fact every man and his dog knew the team was set to sack the veteran Aussie driver. And by leaving it until after the Singapore Grand Prix to announce the news, it meant Ricciardo didn't get the farewell from the sport he so desperately deserved.

However, in a recent interview, Bayer revealed Red Bull wanted to announce it would be the Australian driver's final race before the Singapore GP but was instructed by Ricciardo not to, largely due to him holding out hope that he could prove to the world he still deserved a spot in the sport. "We had agreed with Daniel that we would not communicate it," Bayer 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"We knew that we would look a bit outdated as a team.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." Bayer says Ricciardo was a bit in denial about the situation and right until the end held out hope that he could come out on top at qualifying and then win the race, in turn changing everyone's mind but it wasn't how it played out.

"He believed right to the end that he would finish at the front in qualifying and show everyone," Bayer 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 exiting in Q1 the team again pulled Ricciardo in to discuss how he wished to be farewelled. And despite the Aussie coming to terms with the fact he would soon be out of a seat, he once again reiterated he didn't want the team to say anything. This was largely because Ricciardo didn't want a spectacle to be made out of his final drive. “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.”

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Laurent Mekies says Daniel Ricciardo's send-off was 'frustrating'

But unfortunately, fans of the beloved Aussie driver were unable to give him the send-off they wanted. And RB Formula One principal Laurent Mekies, who previously described the situation as frustrating, admitted 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,” Mekies said.

“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