Horner happy with Ricciardo, 'but nobody writes off Checo'

"It's great to see his performance in our car straight after the British GP. It was the Daniel we knew and recognised. That performance was compelling enough to say okay 'do you want to drive the AlphaTauri for the balance of the season?' He was very much up for that challenge," Horner said, agreeing that Ricciardo's goal is to compete for wins and podiums at the front of the grid again in the future.

"His interest is in getting back to a front running seat. He sees AlphaTauri potentially longer term as a way of doing that. For us as a team, to have options moving forward is no bad thing. Our primary objective is to get Checo firing on all cylinders on a Saturday which I'm sure he's going to do. Daniel will be trying to make a claim for 2025. From our position, it's a great place to be," Horner continued.

'Nobody is writing off Checo'

Max Verstappen indicated on Thursday in Hungary that he will welcome Ricciardo with open arms as a teammate at Red Bull. The two got along extremely well in their previous Red Bull period. Perhaps there is more chemistry between the Verstappen-Ricciardo duo than there is with Verstappen-Perez.

Whether Checo will get equal opportunities? "Absolutely. Let's not forget that Checo is hugely popular within the team. Let's not forget what he did in 2021, his contribution to our constructors championship last year. He's 2nd this year and he's the only other driver to win a race this year. Nobody is writing off Checo."