Daniel Ricciardo 'did something stupid' by leaving Red Bull, says team boss Christian Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, while talking about the events that have happened in the past, referred to Daniel Ricciardo's move to other teams after leaving Red Bull as "stupid."

Horner talked about the very limited success that the Australian had and believes that it would have been best for him to stay. Now that Ricciardo is moving back to the team, Horner is confident that he will be able to grow once more, since he 'grew up' with them. Speaking to the Mirror, Horner said:

“Daniel joined us as a teenager and he grew up with the team here. He had some great success here with us, and then he went and did something stupid and went to drive for a couple of other teams and it never quite worked out.”

Daniel Ricciardo, after another unsuccessful season with McLaren, has had his contract terminated and was not offered a place by any other team. After long speculations of him not being on the grid in the upcoming season, Red Bull unveiled that he would be making a return to the team as their third driver.

Daniel Ricciardo had his career highlights in Red Bull, where he was for a long time. The Australian won seven races with the team and ever since he left them in 2018 (because of issues with Max Verstappen), he has won only a single race (2021 F1 Italian Grand Prix). It is apparent that outside of the team, his success has been very limited.

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Horner believes Daniel Ricciardo will 'have fun' after coming back to Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo faced a difficult time out from Red Bull. Although his performance at Renault was still decent, it was nothing compared to how he was with the Bulls. Ricciardo had a lot of issues with McLaren and had a very poor 2022 F1 season. It was said that the issues he has been facing are due to his acquaintance with the cars and not his driving skills.

However, Horner is confident that since he is back with Red Bull, he will be able to enjoy driving instead of being stressed, like he has been in the past couple of seasons. Christian Horner explained:

“For him, he will be able to get back to having fun and rediscover his enjoyment of being a Formula 1 driver, rather than the stress he has had over the last couple of years.”

At McLaren, Oscar Piastri, the 2021 Formula 2 champion, was chosen as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement. Piastri, with Lando Norris, are expected to help the team in growing in the 2023 F1 season.