Mark Webber makes a shocking revelation about Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Red Bull in 2018 ahead of the Hungarian GP

Mark Weber shares some intricate details from 2018 where Daniel Ricciardo was about to leave Red Bull for Renault.

Mark Webber makes a shocking revelation about Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Red Bull in 2018 ahead of the Hungarian GP

Mark Weber and Daniel Ricciardo (Via Red Bull)

The 2018 F1 season was very decisive for Daniel Ricciardo’s career. While he was able to perform well in the Red Bull, it seemed clear that he wasn’t happy with the situation within the team. The Australian rider felt like Max Verstappen was getting all the support when it came to strategy and team decisions.Apart from this, Red Bull had decided to ditch Renault engines and bring in Honda as an engine supplier for 2019.

All these circumstances seemed too risky for Daniel to pursue forward. With Honda’s previous history with McLaren and Fernando Alonso, it seemed pretty obvious that Daniel was not ready to take that risk. This is when the move to Renault came in play. Apparently they were willing to pay more and make the Aussie an integral part of their development program . However, before his move to the Enstone based squad, a friendly face had advised him against it.

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In an interview Mark Webber reflected on his conversation with Daniel Ricciardo before his move to Renault. “I wanted him to stay with Red Bull,” Webber begins. “I think he remembers that I tried to persuade him to stay a few years ago. But it was clear that he wanted to go to Renault at the time and then he went to McLaren,” he said. Weber tried his best to convince his fellow countryman to stay but was unsuccessful in doing the same. 

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Related: Helmut Marko asks Sergio Perez to ‘forget the World Championship dream’ amidst uncertainty over the Mexican’s Red Bull future

Daniel Ricciardo has completed a full circle to join Red Bull again

Daniel Ricciardo and Nyck De Vries
Daniel Ricciardo and Nyck De Vries (Via Red Bull IG)

After leaving Red Bull in 2018, Daniel Ricciardo joined Renault in 2019 where he races for two years. In that time period, he earned two valuable podiums for the squad. For the 2021 season, Daniel left Renault to join McLaren where he raced for two years. However, with his poor results, the team and the driver mutually ended the contract. This led to Daniel becoming the 3rd driver at Red Bull. 

With Nyck De Vries joining AlphaTauri in 2023, there were a lot of expectations from him. However, due to his poor performances in the first 10 rounds, he was sacked by Red Bull and in came Daniel Ricciardo. From the Hungarian GP onwards, the Australian driver will be racing for the team until the end of the season. Throughout the remaining 13 races, his performance will be evaluated. 

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