Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from Red Bull (RB) had been on the cards for months, with pressure mounting from advisor Helmut Marko to replace him as early as the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ricciardo, who recently lost his seat to young prospect Liam Lawson for the remaining six rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 season, appeared resigned to his fate over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, admitting that it may have been his final race with the team. His inconsistent performance, coupled with his struggles to keep pace with teammate Yuki Tsunoda, left the Australian 10 points adrift, marking a disappointing campaign.
Horner, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, revealed that Marko had been pushing for Ricciardo’s removal since late June, citing the driver’s lack of consistency as a major concern.
“I mean, he started the season roughly, and then Miami was a weekend of two halves. Friday and Saturday morning were fantastic—defending against Ferraris and out-driving the car. But then the Saturday afternoon and Sunday were disastrous. Even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car,” Horner explained.
Despite Marko’s desire to make an early switch, Horner intervened to grant Ricciardo more time in the RB seat, hoping he would regain form and earn a shot at returning to the parent Red Bull team. However, even with Sergio Perez’s inconsistent performances placing his seat under scrutiny, Ricciardo’s results were not convincing enough to warrant a swap.
“I’ve done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver, otherwise he would have been out of the car after Barcelona,” Horner added. “The problem was they both had issues with form at varying times.”
With Ricciardo struggling to recapture his best form and Perez experiencing his own issues, Horner acknowledged that neither driver produced compelling results to secure their future, but the decision was made to move forward with Lawson. For Ricciardo, it’s an abrupt end to a season that was intended to revive his F1 career at Red Bull’s sister team.
