Guenther Steiner Claims ‘Broken’ Daniel Ricciardo Shouldn’t Have Returned After McLaren Stint

In 2023, when Daniel Ricciardo joined AlphaTauri (now RB) in the middle of the season, he aimed to return to Red Bull. After two difficult years at McLaren, he felt at home in the Red Bull family. Unfortunately, things went downhill rather quickly, and Ricciardo ended up losing his place on the grid again. In hindsight, Guenther Steiner believes Ricciardo should not have returned.

Appearing as a guest on the Pitstop Podcast, Steiner reflected on Ricciardo’s recent sacking following the Singapore GP. He focused on how the Aussie did not know how things would turn out for him when he came back to Milton-Keynes.

Calling him a “broken man”, the 59-year-old, insisted that Ricciardo should have stayed away from F1 altogether. “Maybe he shouldn’t have come back after McLaren, you know?” Steiner said.

The Italian-American also revealed that he failed to understand why Ricciardo struggled at McLaren, despite being the first driver from the Woking-based squad to win a race since Lewis Hamilton in 2012 when he crossed the chequered flag at Monza in 2021. But other than that iconic victory, the Perth-born driver’s teammate Lando Norris had completely outperformed him.

Steiner recognized that Ricciardo’s overall driving was affected at McLaren, contributing to his poor stint at RB and ultimately leading to his premature departure. With six races to go in 2024, RB replaced Ricciardo with Liam Lawson.

Why Red Bull favored Lawson

Years ago, Red Bull overlooked the opportunity to sign Oscar Piastri while he was still in Formula 4, deeming him not good enough. However, after he won both Formula 3 and Formula 2 and established himself as one of the top drivers in F1, the team admitted its mistake.

Consequently, Red Bull was determined not to miss out on signing Lawson, who is also regarded as one of the top young talents in motorsports.

Red Bull says it wants to keep Daniel Ricciardo in an “ambassadorial capacity” but team boss Christian Horner has even left the door slightly ajar for Ricciardo to return to a Red Bull cockpit: pic.twitter.com/RG4DJ9XrPf

— The Race (@wearetherace) October 1, 2024

By giving Lawson a chance to prove himself at Red Bull, the team will test him for its main seat as well. He has earned the team’s trust, and Red Bull is looking to build a future around him.

Meanwhile, the Austrian team has also offered an ambassadorial role to the outgoing Ricciardo, but it seems highly unlikely that the 35-year-old will accept the position.