“He still believes I can do it”: Daniel Ricciardo opens up about Christian Horner being one of his biggest supporters

Daniel Ricciardo spoke about the positive relationship that he shares with Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, who believes the former carries the ability to achieve victories in Formula 1.

After the Australian driver was let go by McLaren post the 2022 season, he had no seat for this year. Red Bull came to Daniel Ricciardo's rescue and he returned to the team as their reserve driver. Ricciardo also returned to racing with AlphaTauri this season, replacing Nyck de Vries mid-season. Even though he suffered an injury at the Dutch Grand Prix, AlphaTauri has chosen Ricciardo as one of their drivers for the 2024 season as well.

Christian Horner, who previously worked with Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2018, spoke highly of him. It is apparent that the Red Bull team principal trusts him a lot, as quoted by Goodwood.com:

"His investment in me, his interest, the open arms, I feel he's been a really big supporter. He really wanted me to get back to a level he knows I'm capable of."

"He still believes I can do it, and he just wants to see it."

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Daniel Ricciardo talks about getting back to Red Bull and the simulator

It was apparent that when Ricciardo returned to be a reserve driver for the most dominant car on the grid, he would have to adapt to major changes. Coming in from McLaren, he described that the driving style of Red Bull's RB19 was very different and that getting back on the simulator wasn't the easiest task for him, but he slowly got there.

Daniel Ricciardo also mentioned that he wasn't sure how people would receive him in the team, knowing that he shared history with them before leaving in the 2018 season for Renault.

"I wasn't sure how I was going to be received, whether people would be rolling their eyes and saying I was the kid that left them five years ago. You never really know, but it was a lot nicer than I thought."

He then revealed the driving experience of the car, saying:

"With the driving, it took a little while for me to unplug a few things. I would say the second time in the sim, I then started to improve and I felt my confidence coming back. I would see Simon smiling at me, and we would start to joke a little bit, so I was like, 'Okay, I can do this'."