Horner: Marko wanted Ricciardo out as early as Barcelona

Daniel Ricciardo’s tenure at RB this season lasted longer than it might have, thanks to the personal backing of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

While Ricciardo has now been replaced by 22-year-old Liam Lawson for the remainder of the year, Horner revealed that he worked behind the scenes to keep the Australian driver in the car despite increasing pressure from others in the Red Bull camp – namely Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Horner admitted that while he would have preferred to let Ricciardo complete the season, even despite the latter’s inconsistent performances, Red Bull’s need to plan for the future forced the change.

"From a broader perspective, we need answers for the bigger picture in terms of drivers," Horner explained. "With six races remaining, it’s the perfect opportunity to line Liam up alongside Yuki, to see how he performs."

“This goes beyond VCARB, it encompasses Red Bull Racing.

“We have a contract with Sergio [Perez] for next year, but you’ve always got to have an eye out in terms of what comes next; is that going to be Liam, or do we need to look outside the pool?

“Or will one of the other juniors step up in the fullness of time, whether that’s Isack Hadjar or Arvid Lindblad?”

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Though Horner had long supported Ricciardo, the Australian’s struggles and crucial lack of consistency became a growing concern.

“I think it was the lack of consistency,” the Briton acknowledged.

“He started the season roughly, then Miami was a weekend of two halves; the Friday and Saturday morning was fantastic and it looked like the Daniel of old, defending against Ferraris, out-driving the car, but then Saturday afternoon and the Sunday were disastrous.

“Even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car.

“There was already a lot of pressure on him there, but by the time we got to Montreal it was actually dear old Jacques Villeneuve who got him properly wound up by giving him a hard time.

“It definitely fired him up because the way he drove the car that weekend, he grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and put together a very strong race weekend, so I did say give Jacques a call every grand prix for the rest of the year because whatever he said it definitely worked!”

Despite these flashes of brilliance, Horner was fighting a losing battle in protecting Ricciardo’s place.

“I’ve done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver, so otherwise he would have been out of the car after Barcelona,” the Red Bull Racing chief revealed.

“All the drivers are under pressure to deliver but the reason that Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into a position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo didn’t deliver.

“The problem was, they both had issues with form at varying times.

“Checo started the season very well, very strongly, and Daniel was struggling.

“Then, as Checo lost form, Daniel found a bit of form but it was never compelling enough to say okay we should switch the two drivers.”

Horner had hoped Ricciardo might use this season as a catalyst to return to the top of his game, but that dream was ultimately dashed.

“I would have loved to see him use it as a springboard to get back to where he was, to have completed the story, but it wasn’t to be,” Horner reflected.

“Daniel’s honest about that, and he knows in his heart he gave it his best shot.

“He’s had a great career, he’s had a great run, but unfortunately the next chapter wasn’t to be.”

There has been an offer for Ricciardo to remain in the Red Bull family, working as an ambassador with the brand in much the way David Coulthard has since his F1 retirement.

“He’s so good in front of the camera,” Horner reasoned.

“He’s a natural entertainer and a showman, he will be for sure in front of the camera at some point and I’m sure there will be a documentary or something, that will be fascinating.”

With Ricciardo now out of the seat, Red Bull’s attention turns to the future, with Lawson’s performance in the coming races possibly dictating whether he will take a permanent spot in the team or open opportunities for younger talents like Hadjar or Lindblad.

As for Ricciardo, while his racing career at Red Bull may be over, Horner suggested a future within the organization remains possible.

“There has been an offer for Ricciardo to remain in the Red Bull family, working as an ambassador with the brand in much the way David Coulthard has since his F1 retirement,” he said.

“He’s so good in front of the camera. He’s a natural entertainer and a showman, he will be for sure in front of the camera at some point and I’m sure there will be a documentary or something, that will be fascinating.”

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