Horner blames ONE MAN for Ricciardo downfall ahead of comeback
Horner blames ONE MAN for Ricciardo downfall ahead of comeback
Christian Horner has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo "picked up every bad habit imaginable" while working with an F1 race engineer during his time away from Red Bull.
Ricciardo will make his return to F1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend as he replaces Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.
Rumours have already started to swirl over whether the Australian could be in for a shock return to Red Bull to replace the struggling Sergio Perez, something that may well depend on his performances with the team from Faenza.
READ MORE: Ex-Red Bull driver reveals Ricciardo IGNORED advice ahead of F1 hiatus
Having spent time as Red Bull's reserve driver, the Honey Badger is now hoping to hit the ground running when the lights go out on Sunday. Yet Horner has since revealed that a lot of work went into getting Ricciardo ready for F1 again.
The team principal was critical of some poor traits that he had developed during his time at Renault and McLaren, following his departure from Red Bull in 2018.
Horner: Ricciardo was a different driver
He told the F1 Nation podcast: “I didn’t really recognise the Daniel, over the last couple of years, that we’d sort of grown so used to, that had grown up with us.
“He came in and drove the simulator the day after Abu Dhabi, or a couple of days after Abu Dhabi. It was a complete disaster and he’d picked up every bad habit imaginable when he was working with this previous engineer.
“Gradually we unpicked it. With each session he just got better and better. You could see his confidence growing to the point that he was absolutely on the pace with the race drivers.”
Despite the bad habits that Horner mentions, the Red Bull boss now believes that Ricciardo is ready to go after watching him take part in testing at Silverstone after the British Grand Prix.
Ricciardo could have been on the front row
He added: “What impressed me the most when I went up to have a look at the test was – bearing in mind he hasn’t driven this car, hadn’t been in a car for seven months – within his third or fourth lap he was down to a time that was within a second of what our drivers were achieving.
“Then in his first proper run, as it were, on tyres that were comparable, you could see his confidence was growing and growing and that first lap on probably what was his seventh lap of the day would have put him on the front row of the grid. So it was hugely impressive.
“I was just pleased to see that he was still able to operate at that level. You could see, I mentioned to him ‘that would have put you on the front row of the grid’ and you could see almost the relief in his eyes.
"[It was] almost like the pressure released off his shoulders that he could still do it, that he wasn’t going mad and the old Daniel was still there.
"And then his long runs were very impressive and the work that he did for Pirelli was absolutely on the money.”
Horner also went on to reveal that talks with Ricciardo over a possible move to AlphaTauri had taken place before the test.
He said: “Obviously before the test there was some element of discussion with Daniel to say, look, if this goes well, would you be up for driving an AlphaTauri because things aren’t quite going as we’d hoped with Nyck.
"Would you be up for that challenge? And he [said] ‘yeah, absolutely’. He was prepared, if you like, to take a step backwards to try and take two steps forward.”
READ MORE: Horner reveals INCREDIBLE plan to sign Hamilton for Red Bull
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Ex-Hamilton ally Cullen alludes to unfinished business with 'chasing dreams' clue
- 14 minutes ago
Major F1 engine change considered following 'FIA talks'
- 1 hour ago
Why is David Croft not commentating at the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix?
- 2 hours ago
F1 Explained: What is an out lap?
- 3 hours ago
F1 pundit hints at worrying outlook within Mercedes camp
- Today 14:01
F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today from Imola
- Today 13:30
F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
-
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
- GP CANADA 7 - 9 Jun
- GP SPAIN 21 - 23 Jun
- GP AUSTRIA 28 - 30 Jun
- GP GREAT BRITAIN 5 - 7 Jul
Related news
F1 boss provides reason for Ricciardo REPLACEMENT
Ricciardo follows Hamilton move after taking big role outside F1
Ricciardo tipped to be REPLACED before next race
Ricciardo admits DOUBTING himself over media criticism
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- AWS Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860