The Red Bull season launch in New York left a lot of fans disappointed, as the show was not at all what was expected by many.
Other than the major announcement that Red Bull Powertrains would be joining forces with Ford ahead of the 2026 season, the show was essentially just an hour of unrelated conversation before the RB-19 was revealed.
The livery reveal was also very underwhelming, as the RB-19 looks almost identical to last year’s car, keeping the tradition of keeping every Red Bull car looking very similar ever since the team joined the sport.
One of the hosts of the event, Giselle Zarus, has now been slammed on social media by fans for her mispronunciation of Daniel Ricciardo’s name when introducing Red Bull’s new third driver onto the stage, resulting in an awkward interaction between the two.
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“Welcome one of the friendliest drivers in the F1 grid, Daniel Retardo, to Oracle Red Bull Racing,” she said as Ricciardo stood awkwardly nearby.
The reaction from Red Bull fans on social media hasn’t been particularly forgiving, with Zarus being questioned over her pronunciation of such a well-known name in Formula 1.
One fan even wrote “what the hell is this presenter doing or saying?”
“The announcer just called Danny Ric Daniel Retartdo I can’t #RB19,” added another.
Ricciardo has re-joined his former team to serve as their third driver after his release from McLaren and promotional events such as this season launch is exactly the kind of thing that he is contracted to attend.
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The 33-year-old will also take part in show runs for the team, giving Red Bull the opportunity to showcase their brand using one of the most iconic F1 drivers in their history.
The team’s first show run of the year will take place in Bathurst but Ricciardo will not be attending this event, as the team have chosen their development driver Liam Lawson to complete the show run.
Ricciardo has cleared up any confusion surrounding this decision however, claiming that he is still in holiday mode, meaning his is not quite ready to take part in any driving events for Red Bull just yet.