Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said he is confident that Daniel Ricciardo will overcome the current struggles he is having at McLaren and show the F1 paddock that he is still a “great driver.”
Ricciardo raced with Red Bull after coming up through their junior programme, but he decided to leave the team at the end of 2018 to join Renault.
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The French works team ultimately failed to provide him with a competitive enough package, prompting him to leave for McLaren after just two seasons.
Ricciardo has struggled at his new team thus far this campaign, but Horner – and many others in the F1 paddock – believe the Aussie will bounce back.
Asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast if he regrets Ricciardo’s decision to leave Red Bull, Horner replied: “Not outright.
“When he announced he was leaving Renault, he gave me a call in the shutdown last year and I remember him saying ‘you’re probably thinking I told you so, and yeah you did!’
“But that was a decision he felt he needed to make at that time.”
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Horner added that he is “sad” to see Ricciardo struggle at McLaren, but he remains confident he will eventually come through.
“He’s still a great friend of the team, still a great driver,” Horner said.
“I’m sad to see him having the struggles he’s having at the moment but I’m sure he’ll come through them.”
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