Christian Horner believes that somewhere along the line, Daniel Ricciardo's confidence was "sapped" and the Aussie is no longer the driver he once managed during his winning days at Red Bull.
Ricciardo won all of his eight career wins in Formula 1 under Horner's guidance at Red Bull between 2014 and 2018.
He left the Milton Keynes-based outfit at the end of 2018 for a two-year stint with Renault that yielded just two podiums, after which he made a high-profile switch to McLaren.
But Ricciardo's collaboration with the papaya squad, save for a remarkable win last year at Monza, failed to fulfill both team and driver's expectations.
The 33-year-old has subsequently agreed to be released from his contract with the team a year before its term.
Looking from the outside, Horner admits he no longer recognizes the Honey Badger who defeated Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel and who also raced on a par with Max Verstappen thereafter.
"I don't recognise him as the same driver that he was when he was with us," Horner told Sky Sports F1 at Spa on Friday.
"He's one of the best guys out there. He's definitely got that capability. I hope he finds a seat in Formula 1. I hope he finds his mojo.
"If you think back to some of the races he drove for us, winning Monaco Grand Prix with 50% of the power [in 2018], he put in some amazing performances.
"You have to think when he was alongside Seb, when he first came into the team, how he delivered, how close he was obviously with Max as well.
"So obviously it's tough for him, but I really hope that he finds something for the future."
Horner underscored Ricciardo's achievements back in the day relative to Verstappen, with little that separated the performance between the two drivers back then.
"We saw how close those guys were," Horner said. "Max has evolved since Daniel left the team. But Daniel on his day, he was right there. He put in some amazing performances, and we were sad to see him leave the team.
"His confidence has been sapped. We're used to seeing him on the podiums doing shoeys, messing around with that big smile. We don't see any of that any more.
"I hope for him he finds an opportunity to further his career, because I think Formula 1 would be better off having him in this championship than not."
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