Horner: 'Ricciardo must deliver performance that captures imagination'

Daniel Ricciardo has not really been able to make his mark so far this Formula 1 season. The VCARB driver has still not scored any points after four races and thus sits 17th in the drivers' championship. Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing team principal, spoke at length about Ricciardo's performance during a press conference.

"Well, it's still early days, isn't it? I mean, his season hasn't really got going yet. He's had some difficulties. And I think by his own admittance would feel that he's underperformed so far this year. But we're only at race five. So this is a track that he's historically been strong at. He won here for us in great fashion in 2018. So let's see how things unfold," the British team princiapl said on Friday after the free practice session.

The Red Bull Racing frontman says he is in close contact with the sister team's drivers, including Ricciardo. "So they're all on Red Bull Racing contacts. And we loan the drivers to VCARB. We are keeping a close eye on the development of the drivers. We keep a close eye on their development. And I have to say, Yuki, conversely, has had a great start to the season."

That said, Horner does not fail to step up the pressure on Ricciardo. "Well, I think that it's very much in Daniel's hands, so he needs to show the kind of head turning form to make not only ourselves, but potentially others take notice. And we're only at race five. This is a track that's gone well for him previously. He's got a sprint race as well, so it'll be interesting to see if he can really kick his season off here."