Christian Horner Reveals Helmut Marko Wanted Ricciardo Out After Barcelona GP

Daniel Ricciardo is one of the most iconic Formula One drivers to step foot on the grid. The former Red Bull driver was recently removed from his seat at VCARB after a series of bad performances that went through several seasons and teams. Daniel Ricciardo was removed from his seat right after the Singapore Grand Prix and was replaced by young driver Liam Lawson who will be taking his place in the team.

Horner Reveals Marko Wanted Aussie Out After Spanish GP

Recently Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner revealed that advisor Helmut Marko wanted the Australia driver out of the VCARB seat after the conclusion of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Horner further revealed he did his best to try and keep Ricciardo in the sport for as long as possible. 

“I’ve done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver. Otherwise, he would have been out of the car after Barcelona.

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“I think all the drivers are under pressure to deliver, but the reason that Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into a position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo [Perez] didn’t deliver.

“The problem was, they both had issues with form at varying times. Checo started the season very well, very strongly, and Daniel was struggling. Obviously as Checo lost form, Daniel found a bit of form, but it was never compelling enough to say, ‘Okay, we should switch the two drivers’,” said Horner on Ricciardo. 

Christian Horner Reveals Why Ricciardo Was Switched Mid-Season 

Christian Horner also revealed why Daniel Ricciardo was switched around mid-season by Liam Lawson. According to Horner it gives Red Bull and VCARB time to keep a look on his performance as F1 gears up for the final six races of the season.  

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Of course, in a perfect world, that would have been what we would have done.

“From a broader perspective, we need answers for the bigger picture in terms of drivers. With six races remaining, it’s the perfect opportunity to line Liam up alongside Yuki [Tsunoda] to see how he performs,” said Christian Horner.