Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reflects on the highlights of Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career. The Australian had to make way for Liam Lawson after this year’s Singapore Grand Prix, but by then he had already had a long career with the Austrian racing team. Horner even dares to say that Ricciardo was the best driver on the grid in his debut year, 2014.
Ricciardo made his debut with the Austrian racing team in 2014, after having driven for Toro Rosso for two years prior. The Australian immediately made a good impression by outperforming his teammate and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on multiple occasions. Ricciardo ultimately won seven times with Red Bull.
Team boss Christian Horner has closely followed Ricciardo’s career and was therefore asked during the F1 Nation podcast about the best race the Australian has ever driven for the team. “He has driven some brilliant races for us. I’m not going to name one, but a few,” the Brit responds.
Horner’s first favorite Ricciardo race took place in 2018. “Monaco, when the dear old Renault engine dropped its MGU-K, causing him to lose about thirty percent of his power and he just had the combustion engine to outdo Sebastian Vettel,” Horner recalls. “After we had lost the race a few years before, that was an incredible moment.
‘Best Driver on the Grid’
Horner candidly admits that the racing team had concerns when Daniel Ricciardo started driving for Red Bull in 2014. “Our biggest worry when he came to drive for us was that we knew he was fast, but we had never seen him overtake anyone, so we didn’t know how well he could race,” explains the British team boss.
During the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, Ricciardo proved these concerns were unfounded. “As soon as he was in our car, he just didn’t stop overtaking people! He braked so late. If you look at that 2014 race in Hungary, if you look at his first victory in Montreal, the race he won in China in 2018 I believe. In those, he was outstanding and his confidence was sky-high.”
Horner even dares to make a bold statement about Ricciardo’s form in 2014. “For me, he was the best driver on the grid in 2014. That was his peak.”
