Marko claims Ricciardo’s $49million-a-year move to Renault was based on a lie

Daniel Ricciardo laughing all the way to the bank. $49M per year with Renault vs. under $10M with Red Bull. He will retire comfortably

Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has been dragged into a war of the words between his old team Red Bull and his new team Renault.

Red Bull's chief adviser Helmut Marko has taken aim at Renault, saying Ricciardo's $49million-a-year move to the French manufacturer was based on false promises of world-championship winning engines.

Ricciardo, 29, sent shock waves through the sport last year when he made the move from Red Bull to Renault. The move has yet to pay off, with the driver only finishing one of four grands prix so far this season, when he finished seventh in China.

The relationship between Red Bull and Renault was already strained after the drinks company's team switched from Renault to Honda engines for the start of this season.

Ricciardo, who won seven races at Red Bull, had the pedigree to potentially go on to drive for heavyweight teams such as Mercedes or Ferrari.

Marko has now claimed the Australian driver may have been deceived into signing with Renault.

'Renault is good at (showing data),' Marko told Motorsport-Total.

'They showed us charts over and over again, showing the engine will be massive next year,' the top boss said.

He (Ricciardo) will have just believed it,' Marko said.

Marko's comment's come just days after Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul claimed that Red Bull 'is what it is today' because of Renault.

'We were extremely happy and Renault has contributed to making Red Bull what it is today by winning four championships in a row,' Abiteboul told Autosport.com.

'From a financial perspective with sponsors, from a technology perspective with talent, recruitment, Red Bull is what it is today thanks also to Renault.'

Ricciardo, from Perth, suffered eight retirements with Red Bull last year, with the Renault power units being blamed.

The teams have had a testy relationship since 2014, with Marko claiming that Renault often failed to live up to their own hype