Mark Webber reveals Ricciardo IGNORED advice ahead of F1 hiatus

ricciardo, red bull, 2023, silverstone — Photo: © LAT Images

Daniel Ricciardo

Ex-Red Bull driver reveals Ricciardo IGNORED advice ahead of F1 hiatus

Daniel Ricciardo will be driving for an F1 team once again at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Monday 17 July 2023 21:12

Mark Webber has revealed that he tried to talk Daniel Ricciardo into staying at Red Bull before the Australian decided to leave for Renault.

After failing to secure a seat for the 2023 season, Ricciardo is just days away from a return to the sport.

The Honey Badger has replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri and will take part in his first Formula 1 race of the year at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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In 2014, Ricciardo moved from sister team Toro Rosso (now re-branded as AlphaTauri) to replace Webber at Red Bull. A four-year stint would come to an end in 2018 with a move to Renault, before eventually ending up at McLaren.

Ricciardo has endured a tumultuous time in the sport since his departure from Red Bull, and Webber has now revealed that he advised the 34-year-old against the move all those years ago.

Webber: I told Ricciardo to stay at Red Bull

“I was keen for him to stay in Red Bull,” Webber told ITV. “I think he knows that all those years ago I was trying to talk him into staying.

“But, obviously, he was keen to go to Renault at the time and then he went to McLaren. He’s had a year out and now he’s back. The stopwatch never lies, you’re either giving pressure or you’re taking pressure.

“So now he’s back on the grid and obviously, he’s got to step up against Yuki [Tsunoda] pretty quickly and hopefully he can perform well.”