F1 News: Christian Horner - Daniel Ricciardo Is A Red Bull Driver

The Red Bull team boss is impressed with the former Red Bull driver who "was pretty much done with F1."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who is mighty impressed with 2023 AlphaTauri recruit Daniel Ricciardo, has credited him for that one skill that largely benefited the team this season. On top of this, he's assured fans that he, and teammate Yuki Tsunoda, are both Red Bull drivers. 

Ricciardo's 'dream' of ending his Formula 1 career with Red Bull slipped one step closer when he replaced Nyck De Vries before the 2023 season's summer break. Despite facing hurdles in the form of a hand injury that ensured he was unable to drive for 5 races, he ended the year in the good books of Horner. 

Horner, who feels happy to have the former Red Bull driver back in the camp, revealed the driver's strong point which proved to be advantageous to the team. Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, he said:

“He put some engineering direction into the team with the experience he had and that really benefited the AlphaTauri team.

“It’s great to see Daniel back in F1. It’s something that I was very keen to bring him back into the fold over the winter.

“When he came to us, you could see he was pretty much done with F1, he wasn’t enjoying it, but slowly that smile came back, that energy came back, and certainly the test in Silverstone for us was truly impressive.

“The work behind the scenes on the simulator as well. He deserved the chance in the AlphaTauri.

“He was unlucky to break his hand in Zandvoort but he drove very well this year.”

Horner also stated the difference between Red Bull and AlphaTauri. Clarifying that Ricciardo and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda are Red Bull drivers, he added:

“They’re both Red Bull Racing drivers so they’re both there to be called upon should we need them.

“AlphaTauri is owned by the same shareholders as Red Bull Racing, but of course, the way they operate is independent to Red Bull Racing.

“They take benefit of the parts that are allowed to be transferred like the gearbox or suspension. In the same way Williams and Aston Martin have done so with Mercedes or Haas with Ferrari.

“They’re based in Italy but they have new management coming in in Peter Bayer as CEO and Laurent Mekies as team principal.

“They’re competitive cars and they want to compete to move the team forward.

“It has a new drive behind it. Essentially, they’re a customer of Red Bull Racing.”