Red Bull Content Pool

F1 News

Why Red Bull did not choose Ricciardo in 2025

Horner clear on Ricciardo's future: 'He knows that too'

8 June at 20:57

Daniel Ricciardo has not shown enough to earn a seat at Red Bull Racing. So states Christian Horner in conversation with Sky Sports. Only one option remains for Daniel after Yuki Tsunoda 's contract extension.

Daniel Ricciardo returned to Formula 1 at AlphaTauri in 2023. Ricciardo was the replacement for Nyck de Vries and eventually reached eight Grands Prix. Indeed, a broken metacarpal caused him to have to watch some races from the sidelines.

Why Ricciardo did not earn a seat at Red Bull

However, Ricciardo has made no secret from day one that his dream is to finish his career at Red Bull Racing. However, Red Bull announced a new deal for Perez last week, leaving the door closed for Ricciardo for some time to come. Horner explains why.

''Daniel has had an up and down start to the year. You gave him a bit of a roasting yesterday. He knows he's got to deliver and he looks in good shape. You obviously motivated him because he looked in good form this morning (Saturday morning during FP3). but he knew he hadn't done enough to warrant a seat in the senior team for next year."

Ricciardo is clearly the lesser of the two drivers in the 2024 duel with Yuki Tsunoda. In addition, Red Bull has also sent a signal with the lifting of the option in the Japanese driver's contract. As a result, the battle for the second seat at RB is between Ricciardo and Liam Lawson.