“He is still one of the biggest names in Formula 1” – Christian Horner on the return of Daniel Ricciardo to Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023
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Christian Horner has shown excitement for Daniel Ricciardo's reserve role at Red Bull for 2023
Red Bull has given Daniel Ricciardo an offer to be the third driver for the team in 2023, the contract has yet to be signed by the Australian driver but he has been announced by Red Bull chief Dr Helmut Marko. Team principal Christian Horner spoke about Daniel’s return to the Austrian team, 4 seasons after his exit. Horner mentioned Ricciardo’s main responsibility to be taking part in promotional activities for the energy drinks company.
When Christian was asked about Marko’s declaration of Danny coming back to Milton Keynes, the Brit said, “We haven’t signed anything yet, but Helmut in his enthusiasm has obviously announced it!.” The 49-year also joked about Australia not joining the team if he doesn’t sign the deal. Horner spoke about the disappointing season of Ricciardo this year and said that the Aussie must have “wanted a lot more out of the season.” On signing Daniel, Christian expressed, “He’s still one of the biggest names and characters in F1, and he obviously has a history of being a Red Bull junior.”
The Red Bull team boss made Daniel’s work for the team clear as a marketing face and said, “with the demands that are on the race drivers these days, from the marketing perspective alone… to have a driver of Daniel’s profile and history with the team, within the group, is only an asset for us.” Later the 49-year-old did state the Aussie’s role for some simulator running as well as attending a few races next year.
Christian Horner closes the door at Ricciardo’s chances for a full-time Red Bull seat
Fans have speculated if Danny‘s role as a reserve could lead to the Aussie racing for the team in the future, but Christian put an end to all such hopes and stated, “No. Daniel’s contract is very specific, for a specific reason. We have a contract with Checo for the next two years” The Brit even expressed the team’s satisfaction with the current setup and said, “we’ve got no reason to see that being any different tomorrow, or for the duration of their contractual commitment to the team thereafter.”
This thus makes Daniel’s role at the Austrian team pretty clear, a reserve driver position with a major focus on the marketing side, taking part in show runs and other promotional activities while doing some simulator running for the team along with attending a few races. It seems that Daniel will have to keep an eye elsewhere for his return to F1 after the firm no by Horner. However, the Aussie will be glad to be back at the team which had supported his career and make the most out of the opportunity.
Though looking at the recent breakdown of relations between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen during the Brazilian Grand Prix, maybe we can see the Austrian team promoting Danny in the future, if the tensions between the two full-time drivers do not calm down. But that’s probably just us being a bit too optimistic. A driver line-up of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo again would be nothing short of a disaster.
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