Renault 'fooled Ricciardo into joining' from Red Bull

Red Bull Racing advisor Dr Helmut Marko thinks his now former driver Daniel Ricciardo has been fooled by his new team Renault into joining them, as the Austrian believes the French team could have swayed him with false promises.

Ricciardo was expected to re-sign at Red Bull after both Ferrari and Mercedes had shut the door on a potential transfer, but the Aussie surprised everyone by signing on at Renault. The 29-year-old penned a massive multiple year deal at Renault.

Marko also thought Ricciardo would stay, as he explains he had done everything to keep the seven-time Grand Prix winner on board.

"It looked like everything was alright at that moment," he told Motorsport Total.

"We had improved our offer and talked about everything he thought needed improvements. Including personal sponsors that he had from Australia. It was a relatively long conversation."

However, the outcome wasn't what the 76-year-old was expecting.

"The signature never came. The contract was done, but there was always something: stories about form and small matters."

After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ricciardo officially chose Renault. Marko believes the Aussie has been fooled by the sweet talking of the French team.

"It would go really well for Renault, they showed us as well with graphs about engine performance with the coming year. He probably believed it, he's been fooled."