Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has comically replied to an Instagram post by ex-Formula 1 driver David Coulthard, after the Scotsman explained why he should be Daniel Ricciardo’s reserve driver.
Ricciardo has been ruled out of the Dutch Grand Prix following a crash in Free Practice 1, which broke his wrist.
The fan favourite was approaching Turn 3, where he was unable to see that Oscar Piastri had crashed ahead of him.
Due to the corner being blind, Ricciardo didn’t see Piastri’s stricken car until it was too late, leaving the 34-year-old with a choice.
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Ricciardo had to choose between hitting Piastri or crashing into the wall himself, with the latter having been chosen.
However, as it all happened so fast, Ricciardo “didn’t have enough time to take my hands off the steering wheel, so the wheel came and hit my hand.”
He now reportedly faces a potential six-week recovery time, meaning he could miss several races.
It’s left AlphaTauri needing yet another replacement, with Ricciardo having only recently replaced Nyck de Vries.
Coulthard decided to put his name into the hat to be Ricciardo’s reserve driver, in a comical Instagram post.
“Dear Christian Horner, please read my PowerPoint for why I should be Daniel’s reserve driver,” read Coulthard’s Instagram post.
Coulthard raised four points as to why he should replace Ricciardo, with the first being that he’s “quick on track”.
His second point in his PowerPoint was that he claimed “Red Bull’s first podium”, before stating that himself and the engineers “already get along”.
Coulthard’s final point was that he’d be the sport’s “seventh oldest ever F1 driver”, although whether this is a point in his favour is debatable!
Horner comically replied to his former driver and thanked him for his “application” and didn’t completely rule it out.
“Dear DC,” Horner replied.
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“Thank you for your application and despite the significant amount of crash damage at numerous races you created, we might now need a reserve and as the silver fox of the paddock, you would at least make Fernando Alonso feel young again.
“Best wishes Christian”
Unfortunately for Coulthard, Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson has been chosen to replace Ricciardo.