Horner: Daniel Ricciardo could have been world champion with Red Bull

Christian Horner has suggested that it was Red Bull’s fault that Daniel Ricciardo didn’t win a Formula 1 world championship.

The Australian was one of F1’s brightest stars during his time at Milton Keynes, though his tenure there overlapped with a period of Mercedes domination.

Daniel Ricciardo never won a title with Red Bull

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A Red Bull junior, Ricciardo entered Formula 1 as an HRT replacement in 2011 before joining Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s second team, where he climbed the ranks to Red Bull within two years.

He did something that was thought to be the impossible in his first season when he beat four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in a year that Red Bull lost the titles, but the season was known more for the year that Red Bull the double to lost Mercedes than Ricciardo overcoming a four-time World Champion.

His years at Red Bull, during which he won seven grands prix, never quite gave Ricciardo the accolades he deserved as first he was compared against Vettel’s demise, then it was all about Renault’s failure to match the Mercedes engine, and the final straw was the arrival of the wonderkid, Max Verstappen

Ricciardo beat Verstappen in two of their three seasons together, but that Verstappen had won on debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix set him up the driver to lead Red Bull into the future.

It came to a head at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when the teammates clashed and Ricciardo was publicly blamed by Red Bull.

That, allegedly, was the final straw for the Honey Badger who left for Renault, who had been dropped by Red Bull in favour of Honda power, before moving on to McLaren only to return to the Red Bull fold with sister team having never achieved the highs he had dream off.

He retired late 2024, calling time on his career after the Singapore GP.

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Red Bull went on to win four World titles with Verstappen on the trot from 2021 to 2023 with Horner saying Ricciardo too could’ve been a World title had the team given him the right car at the right time.

During Ricciardo’s time with Red Bull, it was Mercedes who dominated the F1 show with its turbocharged V6 engine, winning one championship double after another.

It wasn’t until 2021 that Verstappen made inroads into that with Red Bull having swapped to Honda power while a year later, 2022, Red Bull and Honda won the title to bring the Mercedes era to its conclusion.

“Daniel’s just a great guy,” said Horner. “He lights up a room when he walks in it. He’s got a big personality, a big heart. Very sensitive guy. I just clicked him.

“He was a wonderful driver.

“Unfortunately, the car at the time where he was at his peak, we didn’t have the most competitive car on the grid.

“I think if we had, he could have been a world champion. A great guy, and I think the sport misses Daniel.”

Horner has been revealing snippets of what could be expected when he tours Australia later this month in a three-part speaking tour, A Special Evening with Christian Horner

From Melbourne to Sydney to Perth, Horner will speak about his career before his Formula 1, his decades on the grid, Red Bull’s success, and hopefully even share his plans to return to the grid with Alpine.

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