Horner: 'Marko wanted Ricciardo out of the F1 car as early as Barcelona'

Ricciardo has now been forced out of the Visa Cash App RB seat and has been replaced by Liam Lawson. This happened after the Singapore Grand Prix, but Horner has claimed Marko wanted to make the change eight rounds earlier. Incidentally, Nyck de Vries was sacked from AlphaTauri after 10 rounds in the 2023 Formula 1 season and was replaced by Ricciardo.

Horner reveals Marko wanted Ricciardo out earlier

"I think it was the lack of consistency," Horner said on the F1 Nation podcast about the reason behind Ricciardo's early departure. The Red Bull team boss points to the Miami GP as an example after an already difficult start to the season. "The Friday and Saturday morning was fantastic, and it looked like the Daniel of old, defending against Ferraris and out-driving the car. But then the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday were disastrous. And even around Barcelona, Helmut wanted him out of the car."

However, Horner says he wanted to give Ricciardo more time in the VCARB car. "I’ve done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver, otherwise he would have been out of the car after Barcelona," continued the 50-year-old Briton, who stressed that all drivers are under great pressure to perform. That certainly includes Sergio Perez, who has struggled to find form since the Miami Grand Prix.

"The reason that Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into a position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo didn’t deliver. And the problem was they both had issues with form at varying times. Checo started the season very well, very strongly, and Daniel was struggling. And then obviously, as Checo lost form, Daniel found a bit of form, but it was never compelling enough to say: Okay, you know, we should switch the two drivers," Horner said.

This article has been created in collaboration with Nicole Mulder