F1 boss breaks his silence on Daniel Ricciardo SNUB

Daniel Ricciardo

F1 boss breaks his silence on Ricciardo SNUB

Ricciardo turned down the chance to join Haas last year, instead opting to take a sabbatical

Dan Davis

Monday 7 August 2023 07:42

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has insisted he harbours no resentment over Daniel Ricciardo's decision to snub him last year.

Ricciardo's stuttering performances during his final season at McLaren saw him stripped of his race seat, sparking a scramble to secure his signature.

It was widely reported that Haas were one of the teams keen on signing him for their second race seat, having decided to replace Mick Schumacher.

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However, Ricciardo opted to take a sabbatical instead, though his spell on the sideline was brought to an end when AlphaTauri snapped him up last month.

Asked about Haas' near miss, Steiner instead lavished praise on the driver.

Steiner was unsuccessful in his bid to lure Ricciardo to Haas

'Good guy' Ricciardo praised

"Obviously he had a plan what he wanted to do and it worked out for him," he said.

"I think Daniel is a very good guy and he's won races. He had a tough season last year, not an easy one the year before, and sometimes you need to take a step back to [make] two forward.

"Everybody needs to do a decision they want to make. We did one last year, everybody has got an opinion on what we did when we didn't extend one of our drivers.

"If a team decides that is the best way to move forward for them? I have no opinion on it. They know what they're doing. I think they are fully qualified to do it.

"Obviously having Daniel in the stable makes the decision a lot easier. Daniel had a tough year last year, but they always said he's won races before, so there must be talent."