Horner reveals Marko wanted Ricciardo out already after Spanish Grand Prix

Photo: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

01. 10. 2024
2 min

Horner reveals Marko wanted Ricciardo out already after Spanish Grand Prix

Tereza Hořínková
News.gp journalist and a girl with big dreams

Formula 1 helmutmarko christianhorner danielricciardo

Christian Horner disclosed that Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko, wanted Daniel Ricciardo dropped from RB already after the Spanish GP in June.

F1 & MotoGP news to your inbox every day.

After months of speculations and whispering in the paddock, Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by Red Bull's sister team RB following the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago.

As announced at the same time, his seat will take young New Zealander, Liam Lawson, stepping in for the final six races of the 2024 season, starting from the United States Grand Prix, which will take place in Austin, Texas in less than three weeks.

With Ricciardo not being very likely to secure a seat elsewhere in Formula 1 next year, this is probably the end of his 13-year-long career. 

Even though there has been some criticism of Red Bull for not letting Ricciardo finish the season, the team principal Christian Horner has now shared new details about the challenge he faced in keeping Ricciardo in the team until at least the weekend in Singapore.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast after the driver changes, Horner explained that Ricciardo’s departure was due to inconsistent performance, which had already tested Helmut Marko’s patience earlier in the year.

“He [Ricciardo] started the season roughly, and then Miami was a weekend of two halves,” said Horner.

“The Friday and Saturday morning was fantastic, and it looked like the Daniel of old defending against the Ferraris and outdriving the car. But then the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday were disastrous.

“So even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car, and there was already a lot of pressure on him there.

“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,” he added.

Ricciardo’s racing future remains uncertain, with the only thing he’s made clear being that he doesn’t want to return as an F1 reserve driver for Red Bull.

logo-newsgp logo-instagram logo-linkedin logo-whatsapp

To the topic

F1 & MotoGP news to your inbox every day.

logo-newsgp

PART OF TICKETSGP GROUP

Information

F1 and MotoGP news

New articles every day

News from around the world

Reports from races

logo-newsgp logo-instagram logo-linkedin logo-x

F1 & MotoGP news around the globe

Contact

TicketsGP, s.r.o.
Nové Sady 988/2
602 00, Brno, Czechia
CZ14176262
European Union

info@tickets.gp

News.GP RSS

News.GP Formula 1 RSS

News.GP MotoGP RSS


We have established partnerships with circuits, organizers, and official partners. As we do not collaborate directly with the owner of the Formula 1 licensing, it is necessary for us to include the following statement:

This website is unofficial and is not associated in any way with the Formula 1 companies. F1, FORMULA ONE, FORMULA 1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing B.V.