Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has recently shed more light on how Daniel Ricciardo betrayed his side by moving to rivals Renault. The Briton stated on the most recent episode of the Eff Won podcast that even though the Milton Keynes outfit were willing to provide the Australian with the same deal Max Verstappen was receiving, the 34-year-old was not keen to stay.
Horner revealed that Ricciardo had doubts about extending his stay at Red Bull because he feared that he would be the “support act” alongside the Dutchman. “So we gave Max a contract at the beginning of that year in (20)18 to secure his future. And Daniel, I remember being upset at the time. He suddenly felt that. Hang on, I don’t want to be the support act here“, explained the 49-year-old.
Horner then added in the interview that since he was beginning to fear at this time that Ricciardo would leave the team, he asked Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz to have a word with the Australian. Mateschitz spoke with Ricciardo and told Horner to offer the 34-year-old the same deal as Verstappen even though it was very expensive.
Although the Austrian owner was initially able to convince Ricciardo to stay at Red Bull by matching Verstappen’s deal, the 34-year-old was not entirely convinced that staying in the team was the best decision for him. As a result, a few weeks later in 2018, Ricciardo told Horner that he would leave Red Bull at the end of the season to join Renault.
Why did Ricciardo leave Red Bull despite getting the same terms as Verstappen?
On the same podcast, Christian Horner revealed why Daniel Ricciardo eventually decided to leave Red Bull despite the team having offered him the same terms as Max Verstappen. Horner revealed that the Australian had concerns with the engine and had doubts about Red Bull‘s decision to partner with Honda for the power units.
As a result, Ricciardo eventually called Horner a few weeks after their initial discussions and told the Briton that he will not be signing a new deal. The Honey Badger then told a surprised Horner that he had instead signed a contract with Renault.
Since it was the Renault engine that had let Ricciardo down in 2018, Horner could not believe that the 34-year-old was signing a deal with the French outfit. As a result, Horner initially thought that Ricciardo was taking the “pi**” because of the latter’s sense of humor.
However, after a bit of convincing, Horner understood that Ricciardo had actually signed for the team, whose engine had let him down. The Briton concluded his remarks by explaining how it was disappointing for him and the team to hear that Ricciardo was leaving but made it clear that he still had the utmost respect for the Australian.
