Daniel Ricciardo finaly breaks silence on Christian Horner’s claims of learning ‘bad habits’ at McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo was axed by the McLaren F1 team at the end of the 2022 season of the sport.

Daniel Ricciardo finaly breaks silence on Christian Horner’s claims of learning ‘bad habits’ at McLaren

Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: Imago)

Daniel Ricciardo has had a roller coaster of a ride at the pinnacle of motor racing since leaving Red Bull. While he is currently racing for Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, he did receive a bit of a stick from Christian Horner last year for picking some bad habits during his time at McLaren.

Ahead of the 2023 F1 season, Daniel Ricciardo joined Red Bull as a reserve driver, and seeing his exploits on the Austrian outfit, Christian Horner commented that the Australian had picked some bad habits during his horrendous two-year stint with the McLaren F1 team.

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Ricciardo was recently asked to give his take on the same, and while responding, he said as reported by Crash;

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 I think bad habits can just come in the form of a lack of confidence. It was the end of last year. Once the season was done, I jumped on the sim, I guess it was sometime in December before I went home for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I was also nervous.

Looking at the reaction of the 34-year-old, it is quite clear that he feels the lack of confidence that he had during his time at McLaren is something that Horner spotted as a bad habit when he eventually made his way back into the Milton-Keynes-based team’s setup.

Daniel Ricciardo wants to race for the Red Bull F1 team again

While Daniel Ricciardo has given a fascinating take on Christian Horner’s ‘bad habit’ comment, his main motive behind getting the wheel of an F1 car again is to get back to racing for the Red Bull F1 team. Ricciardo views his current AlphaTauri stint as a launching pad toward the 2025 seat.

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: F1)
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: F1)

Sergio Perez’s current deal with the Milton-Keynes-based team will come to a close at the end of 2024 and there is a growing belief in the F1 paddock that Horner and Co. will not offer him a contract extension. Perez had a massive struggle behind the wheel of the RB19 this year.

Daniel Ricciardo, despite his age, has still got 2-3 years left in him, and if he can pull off a strong 2024 F1 season for AlphaTauri, his chances of racing alongside Max Verstappen will increase by 10-folds. Next year will be pivotal from the point of view of Ricciardo.

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