Since regaining his spot on the grid in the summer, Ricciardo has made no secret of his desire to rejoin the senior Red Bull squad. However, a fractured hand he suffered in a practice collision at the Dutch Grand Prix delayed his development in mid-2023.
Although Liam Lawson performed admirably in his absence, Ricciardo was kept on by the redesigned RB team for 2024, but he has not fared well with teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first four races of the current year.
Tsunoda has made three straight appearances in the Q3 rankings, earning points in the last two races in Australia and Japan, whereas Ricciardo is yet to finish higher than 12th this year.
With plenty of time left to turn his situation around, Horner, who managed Ricciardo’s best years at Red Bull between 2014 and 2018 before two disastrous exits to Renault and McLaren, has backed the 34-year-old to succeed.
He stated: “Daniel is a big boy and has been around for a long time,” as reported by Motorsport-Total. He is aware of how things operate.
“The smile will come back when he gets the desired outcome.
He’ll undoubtedly fight back. We’ve only completed race four.
Following veteran Formula One driver Thierry Boutsen’s statement that it is “very sad to see” Ricciardo battling so hard, Horner made his remarks.
Therefore, it saddens me greatly to see him in this role. He definitely has talent, in my opinion. He has already demonstrated this. But because something else is pressing him down, he is unable to use it.
“I have no idea what’s happening outside of me.
“If I were the team management and wanting to win, I would like to have drivers that are only there to win and will stop at nothing to win—they shouldn’t have any psychological issues or pressure.