While a majority of the F1 community celebrates Daniel Ricciardo and his second coming to F1, the other half isn’t too happy regarding the ethics of it all. Not only was Nyck deVries sacked 10 races into his rookie season, Liam Lawson, a junior driver for the team, was skimmed over as a potential choice. Therefore, as Red Bull TP Christian Horner sat down to clear the air, he made some eye-opening revelations.
While speaking to the F1 Nation podcast, Horner delved into the hot topic of the weekend- Ricciardo’s return and deVries’ exit as a result. However, in making his case, Horner may have contradicted himself, letting his love for Ricciardo affect his bias.
When asked about when Ricciardo’s comeback became a reality, Horner laid bare what the situation at AlphaTauri was. “It was becoming a difficult situation for Nyck deVries but there was a high expectation from him.”
Having scored zero points, the Dutchman was on the radar. “There was a general feeling that Nyck wasn’t quite hitting the mark. And then the question was: what are the options if we wanted to switch things around?” And so, Horner was drawn to DR3.
Red Bull boss caught in his own words
Having made these statements, Horner stated, “The most interesting option for me was to see how Daniel performed. So that was the decision made- it all happened pretty quick.”
However, while this highlights Horner’s clear affection toward the Honey Badger, things soon took a confusing turn. While talking about the 34-year-old driver, Horner was awestruck. “Daniel isn’t a junior driver. He’s already proven himself in the time he’s had with us.”
Back to the grid and it feels this good. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/I822arT99G
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 11, 2023
While talking about deVries, who is 6 years younger than Ricciardo, and with championships under his name, things took a turn. Confessing to having problems with deVries before he joined the team, Horner switches his perspective.
“I think that Nyck deVries is a very capable driver. Formula E champion, F1 champion; he’s obviously got a lot of experience. He’s not a young driver as such, from an age perspective and I didn’t see how it fitted within the junior program.”
It gets worse- Daniel Ricciardo conversations started earlier
If this wasn’t enough pain inflicted on the Dutchman who was given just 10 measly races to prove himself, Horner also confessed to starting conversations with Ricciardo much before.
return of the honey badger 🍯😁#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/okxSJWEmHj
— Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (@visacashapprb) July 18, 2023
“Before the test, there was some element of discussion with Daniel: ‘Look, if this goes well would you be up for driving AlphaTauri? Because things aren’t going as well as we’d hoped with Nyck, would you be up for that challenge?’ He was like yeah absolutely.”
This might be unfair to deVries, as it seems like the rookie was fighting a lost battle from the start. As ruthless as the sport can be, 10 races is too short a time for an F1 career to last in this environment- especially when the driver is already in the slowest car on the grid.
