Horner has zero understanding for Ricciardo's choice: 'Spectacularly bad timing'

Ricciardo quit Red Bull after 2018 and joined Renault for two years where he took two podiums. In 2021, the Australian drove for McLaren and this year Ricciardo is yet again the teammate of Lando Norris at the team. Although things were going well for McLaren in 2021 and Ricciardo even took a victory to his name, things seem to be going poorly for the team this year. If you contrast this with Red Bull Racing and how things went there in recent years, you could say that Ricciardo made the wrong choice.

Ricciardo had 'spectacularly bad timing'

Red Bull team boss Horner says exactly that to the Australian Daily Telegraph: "We made him a 'stratospheric' offer at the time. " In all likelihood, Horner means that the Australian was offered a huge amount of money to stay. Ricciardo nevertheless opted for a different environment, which led people to speculate about the fear he had of the young Verstappen. Horner continued: "His timing was spectacularly bad. On the other hand, he could see that Max was blossoming and he didn't want to become the second driver."

By the timing, Horner means that things have been going very well for Red Bull since then. Red Bull worked its way up and by 2021 the team was fighting Mercedes for the Constructors' title and Verstappen became the world champion. Still, although the boss has little sympathy for Ricciardo's choice, he will have missed the Australian. After all, Ricciardo is a GP winner and, as a veteran, was much needed at the team. With Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon, the team has had a couple of misfires. After more than a year, the veteran in Sergio Perez now seems more suitable than the young talents.