Christian Horner says he has been impressed by the way Daniel Ricciardo has dealt with a difficult start to the season after suffering another engine problem.

Ricciardo's engine failed as he exited the final corner in the Bahrain Grand Prix, allowing him to coast over the finish line before stopping by the pit wall. The problem follows a number of difficulties for Red Bull, with Ricciardo's sixth place on Sunday matching his best result of the year so far.

Asked how Ricciardo had handled the team's struggles this season, Horner replied: "No different at all.

"His attitude, his approach, his personality, his demeanour is exactly the same. That is great for the guys around him as well, he is not letting his head drop or throwing a moody there is none of that. I am very impressed with how he has dealt with it."

Confirming that Ricciardo will be on his fourth engine out of the four allowed this season at the next race in Barcelona, Horner says he is certain the Bahrain power unit cannot be salvaged.

"All the fireworks went off and the engine felt like it needed to join in! A fairly spectacular finish, it failed 200m before the line, but we had enough momentum to cross the line.

"I think that engine will be a coffee table in the future."

Click here for analysis of the development war between Ferrari and Mercedes 

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Sainz: Williams struggles an ‘eye opener’ but turnaround achievable

Williams’ 2026 season was supposed to be the next step in a carefully plotted rebuild.…

1 hour ago

Pourchaire reignites single-seater career with Opel in Formula E

Former FIA Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire is back in the single-seater saddle, with the…

2 hours ago

Perez admits he ‘had doubts’ about returning to F1 with Cadillac

For much of 2025, the paddock conversation around Sergio Perez was surprisingly straightforward: a driver…

18 hours ago

Briatore questions Alpine’s results: ‘Why are we not winning?’

Flavio Briatore is not a man accustomed to standing on the sidelines of victory, nor…

20 hours ago

Richie Ginther: A man on the brink of F1 greatness

Richie Ginther was born on this day in 1930. A glance at the American F1…

22 hours ago

The Max effect: Verstappen Racing scores first Pro-Class GT win

  Victory at last! After enduring a frustrating season plagued by mechanical failures and unavoidable…

22 hours ago