"He looked pretty broken": Christian Horner recalls meeting Daniel Ricciardo in Mexico last season

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently recalled when he had a meeting with Daniel Ricciardo in 2022 after McLaren announced Oscar Piastri for the 2023 F1 season. The Australian was unable to perform well on the orange British team and was hence removed from the team.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Horner recalled how he met Daniel Ricciardo in a hotel during the Mexican GP. The Red Bull team boss explained how limited Ricciardo's options were and how broken he looked. He said:

"Well, it all kicked off in a hotel room in Mexico last year. I had a meeting with Daniel and it was clear that he was gonna...you know, his options for next year were gonna be a bit limited, and he just looked pretty broken."

Furthermore, Christian Horner explained how he decided to hire Daniel Ricciardo as a simulator driver and allowed the Australian to help Red Bull and keep his foot in the sport. He added:

"And, I said, Well, why don't he come back to Red Bull for 12 months, out of the car, predominantly, help us with simulation work, bit of tire testing, and, you know, just come back and re-find his passion for the sport. Because it was clear that he was not enjoying...to be honest I did not really recognize Daniel over the last couple of years. So, that's where it started."

The Honey Badger worked for around seven months with the team and helped them through the first half of the 2023 F1 season. Now, he has joined the AlphaTauri team on loan from Red Bull and will be racing with them till the end of this season.

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Red Bull team boss impressed with Daniel Ricciardo's pace after Silverstone tire test

Red Bull gave Daniel Ricciardo a great opportunity to drive the RB19 around Silverstone for the Pirelli tire test. This was also a test for him to prove his pace and performance to the team's seniors.

Thankfully, the Australian did not disappoint, as Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quite impressed by the lap times. After the test, Horner said:

“It was great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim sessions translates on track. His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri.”

As soon as they saw Ricciardo's pace, they decided to make changes and sack Nyck de Vries and replace him with the Australian in AlphaTauri.