F1 News: Christian Horner Reveals Daniel Ricciardo Contract Drama - "Stop F**king About"

Red Bull's Christian Horner has detailed the team's offer to significantly raise Daniel Ricciardo's salary, mirroring Max Verstappen's.

Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, has disclosed that the team was ready to nearly double Daniel Ricciardo’s salary to prevent his 2019 switch to Renault. Despite this, Ricciardo departed Red Bull, a move that surprised many, including Horner.

Key Takeaways:

• Red Bull’s Generous Proposal: Red Bull was prepared to offer Daniel Ricciardo a contract matching Max Verstappen’s, worth $10 million, to retain his services and keep the successful driver pairing intact.
• A Sudden Change of Heart: Ricciardo, feeling overshadowed by his teammate, considered the significant offer from Red Bull but was eventually swayed by the prospect of being a leading figure at Renault, despite a dramatic engine failure during testing that raised doubts.
• The Aftermath of the Decision: Christian Horner shared that Ricciardo later admitted to regretting his decision to move to Renault, acknowledging during the pandemic year that he was wrongly advised at the time.

- Red Bull Content Pool

The F1 community was left reeling when Daniel Ricciardo decided to leave the familiar nest of Red Bull Racing for Renault. It was a shift that Red Bull had attempted to forestall by presenting an offer to Ricciardo that few could refuse. In a candid moment on the “eff won with DRS” podcast, Christian Horner shared the lengths to which Red Bull went to retain the Australian driver.

Speaking of Verstappen’s contract, Horner said:

“So we gave Max a contract at the beginning of that year in 2018 to secure his future.

“Daniel, I remember being upset at the time. He suddenly felt that ‘hang on, I don’t want to be the support act here.’ And I could tell he was starting to think of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. He got a lot of noise in his ear and that this is the money that is also on the table [from other teams].

“But I remember I spoke to to our owner Dietrich Mateschitz before the Austrian Grand Prix, and I said ‘it’s looking a bit marginal with Daniel, can you just show him some love? Because you know, Helmut [Marko], obviously very pro Max. But I think if you could just balance things out, just let him know that you want him.’

“‘No problem. I’ll speak to him.’ So he took him upstairs after the race in Austria and they were gone for well over an hour and then they re-emerged, they reappeared both with smiles on their faces.

“Dietrich comes up to me, I said ‘well, how did it go?’ And he said ‘no problem. It’s not even a question.’

“I said: ‘Well, what did you agree with him?’ He said: ‘I said, we’ll give him whatever Max is on.’

“I was like, ‘Wow, do you know what we pay Max?’ And so I gave him the number and he said ‘who the f**k agreed to that?’ And I said ‘Well, you?'”

However, following an engine blowout from Renault during testing, Ricciardo wanted to revise his contract from two years to one, which Red Bull accommodated. Yet, the agreement remained unsigned. Horner detailed the suspenseful wait: 

“And suddenly Monday goes and he’s in the car on Tuesday... I’m starting to smell a little bit of a rat here.”

- Red Bull Content Pool

Ricciardo's decision was finally disclosed in an unexpected call:

“‘I’m not going to sign the contract. I’m going to take another contract.' I was like ‘wow, okay, have Mercedes or Ferrari come through with something?’ And he went ‘no, I’m going to sign for Renault.’”

The disbelief was evident in Horner’s reaction, suspecting a joke from Ricciardo:

“‘You’re not going to Renault, stop f**king about, just tell me when you are going to sign that contract.’” 

But the jest was not to be, and Ricciardo's departure was set in stone.

In a twist of fate, the decision to switch came full circle when Ricciardo reached out to Horner during the pandemic, admitting:

“Christian, I hate to say this but you were absolutely right. And I apologise and all that and so on.”