Horner assures Daniel Ricciardo will be able to have fun again in 2023
The Red Bull boss talks about the Australian's departure for Renault and his experience outside the Austrian team.
His departure from Red Bull seemed to be a liberation. In late 2018, Daniel Ricciardo announced that he would be leaving the team that saw him shine to join Renault. This season has been challenging for him with a lost victory in Monaco and numerous reliability issues.
After a challenging year with the team managed by Cyril Abiteboul, the Australian found a job in the world of the yellow car, managing to reach the podium twice: at the Nürburgring and in Imola.
Tempted by a new challenge, he joins McLaren, a team on the rise. However, the pleasure is not the same. Apart from his victory in Monza, the Honey Badger remains far behind his teammate and his results have even led to a burnout.
He went and did something stupid.
Without a seat for 2023, Daniel Ricciardo will find employment, thanks to Red Bull, as a third driver. According to Christian Horner, the team principal, the number 3 driver did not make the right choices during these four years away from the Red Bull team.
Daniel joined us in his adolescence and grew up with the team. He had great success with us, but then he did something stupid, he went to drive for other teams and it didn’t really work out.
But Daniel has such a great personality and such a strong character that we thought it was only right to bring him back to the team – and of course – on the promotional side, he has the biggest smile in Formula 1. For him, he will be able to have fun again and rediscover the pleasure of being a Formula 1 driver, rather than the stress he may have experienced over the past two years, assures the Briton.