Ricciardo contradicts Horner: 'Lack of stability'

Christian Horner told us last week that he didn't quite understand why Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018. According to the team boss, the 2019 season was precisely the time to find the way up, but the Australian looks at it differently.

The driver had been under contract with Red Bull since 2014. It was exactly the time when the hybrid era began and the Austrian racing stable had to cede the world title to Mercedes every time. It ensured that Ricciardo had to work hard every season to achieve the best possible performance with Red Bull. In 2018, he decided to leave for Renault.

Ricciardo has no regrets about leaving

That move, according to Horner, could be called remarkable, because in early 2019 Red Bull entered into a partnership with Honda. The Japanese engine supplier turned out to be able to supply Red Bull with a power source that allowed the team to compete with Mercedes and even win the world title a few years later. Ricciardo, however, does not regret his departure at all.

"There were a lot of things that gave me a little bit of discomfort or lack of stability," Ricciardo tells Herald Sun. "I guess when you break it down, it makes sense, but I totally get why people will say, ‘You shouldn’t have done that’ or whatever. That’s expected and I can’t say it bothers me. It is what it is."