Christian Horner ‘Felt Sorry’ After Firing Daniel Ricciardo From Red Bull

When it comes to Formula 1, many fans believe that the second Red Bull seat is cursed. While that stance might be a bit of a stretch, there is no denying that the team has had issues getting a driver to settle alongside Max Verstappen in recent times.

The team hasn’t exactly been patient when it comes to underperformance, either, as many axed Red Bull drivers will be able to tell you. The ‘curse’ has actually been so prevalent that it pre-dates Verstappen joining the team in 2016.

Until he was sacked last year, the man behind the decision to let so many drivers go was team principal, Christian Horner.

Speaking in his newly-released autobiography, Drive, the 52-year-old admitted that he felt sorry for sacking one Red Bull driver, in particular, who he described as a “perfect” fit that joined at “the wrong time.”

Christian Horner Makes Brutally Honest Admission Over Red Bull Driver He Sacked

From 2010 to 2013, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel looked unstoppable as he became the youngest ever Formula 1 Driver’s World Champion and ended the era as a four-time champion.

After a successful stint driving together, the pairing of Vettel and Mark Webber ended after Webber decided to retire from F1 at the end of the 2013 season.

Red Bull immediately made the call to Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who was racing for Red Bulls junior team Toro Rosso at the time, and asked him to make the jump to the senior team to race alongside Vettel.

However, as 2014 arrived, so did a set of new regulations, regulations which Red Bull couldn’t find much success with compared with their competitors, Mercedes.

The introduction of the 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power units meant that the Red Bulls’ threat at the front no longer existed, and, despite having an incredibly talented pair of drivers, their car simply was not good enough to compete for titles.

After a far from impressive 2014 season, Vettel, made the jump from Red Bull to Ferrari, which left the team with no choice but to promote Daniel Ricciardo to their number one driver after just one year with the team.

Horner now clearly regrets that so much expectation was placed on Ricciardo.

“Maybe Daniel had arrived at Red Bull at the wrong moment. The poor guy had jumped into the car during 2014 expecting us to challenge for championships and then watched as Mercedes streaked away from us, winning 16 races during our worst season in four years.”

Lewis Hamilton was eventually crowned the Drivers’ Champion in 2015 as Mercedes had little competition from anybody else on the grid.

Horner Admits Driver He Sacked Was “Fantastic”

Horner admitted that if anybody was able to get over the issues it was Ricciardo. He said: “But if anyone at Red Bull had the personality to overcome adversity, it was Daniel. He brimmed with enthusiasm, had a great sense of humour, and his connection with the team, our fans and media was strengthened by a smile that endeared him to everybody he met.

“Daniel was also a fantastic driver, and the perfect replacement for Sebastian’s number one seat.”

In his first season as Red Bull’s first driver, the team finished just fourth in the constructors standings and the Australian finished just eighth in the driver’s standings, a massive drop-off from the dominance they experienced in the years prior to Ricciardo’s arrival.

After five seasons and very little success, Ricciardo made the jump from Red Bull to Renault at the end of the 2018 season after tensions between himself and Verstappen began to rise.

Red Bull, with no doubt, took the side of their young protégé Verstappen, who has since gone on to become a four-time champion of the world, whereas Daniel Ricciardo never really recovered from the intense breakdown of the Red Bull relationship. He exited the sport in 2024 after leaving Racing Bulls.