Horner: Ricciardo "Running" From Verstappen Fight

Paul Jeffrey · Feb 27, 2019

Christian Horner has taken a dig at former driver Daniel Ricciardo, claiming the Aussie is "running away from a fight" with former teammate Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo decided to end his long association with the Red Bull brand at the end of the 2018 season, jumping ship from the outfit to start a new career chapter with Renault from 2019, and despite claiming he needed a fresh start to reinvigorate his career, Red Bull Team Principe Christian Horner claims Ricciardo is running scared of the challenge offered by Max Verstappen.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Horner has a dig at Ricciardo for leaving Red Bull in the new Netflix Formula One documentary that is set to air on the build up to the Australian Grand Prix, this March 8th.

Speaking of the decision to leave the race winning outfit for this season, Horner told the Netflix documentary:

“Is he making the right career choice? My assumption is that he is running from a fight [with Verstappen],” Horner says in one of the episodes.

The words from Horner will likely sting Ricciardo once the episode airs later this year, as the Australian appears to have been working hard in the winter months to ease the strain on the often difficult relationship he held with the young Dutchman in recent seasons, not helped by several on track collisions between the two, and perceived favouritism towards the youngster from the Red Bull management.

With Honda power now part of the Red Bull operation, and Ricciardo firmly back in the swing of things with Renault, it will be interesting to see if the two find themselves close on circuit again in 2019, and who will come out on top at the end of the season...

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The Swiss Hillclimbracer · Feb 27, 2019

this is just sad

Ho3n3r · Feb 27, 2019

Aaaand... the handbags are out. Was wondering how long this would take.

Although, it has to be said, he's probably right.

R1Joel · Feb 27, 2019

Typical Red Bull and the cheapshots.

Minime891 · Feb 27, 2019

I don't understand what's to be gained from Horner saying this. It just seems so petty.

rubaru · Feb 27, 2019

Nothing to do with Red Bull reliability issues that are unrelated to the engine?
Nothing to do with how you handled the Baku crash?
Nothing to do with the salary jump from 6.5mil to 35mil?

Go on Horner, try to make the other guy look bad to save your ego.

Diogo Goetz Brand · Feb 27, 2019

If he's running from a Verstappen fight, I think he's doing the right thing. It would be quite difficult for him to fight against Red Bull's golden boy when the whole team is on his corner, even though Daniel is clearly the better driver.

Warren Dawes · Feb 27, 2019

Minime891 said:
I don't understand what's to be gained from Horner saying this. It just seems so petty.

Publicity for the Netflix program and the media. Maybe also some free promotion for F1.
The media always try to manufacture drama / controversy to help their own ends.
It's probably a huge beat up.

nolimit2k6 · Feb 27, 2019

I always liked Red Bull, but it was mainly because of Danny Ric. This is just pathetic honestly, they know they screwed up letting him go. Nothing against Max, but RB should've disciplined Max after Baku, that was uncalled for, unprofessional and just plain STUPID! Ric was clearly the faster car that day, why they didn't tell Max to get the hell out of the way is beyond me... Ric was always the better driver in that team, but it's hard to perform when your own team screws you over.

Ricoow · Feb 27, 2019

This is sad, what seems like a good combo (RBR and Ricc) ends in a pathetic little fest of dirt throwing.

pcraenme · Feb 27, 2019

I always liked Ricciardo, he is a great driver, but stating he has always been or clearly is the better driver in the team is a bit too much. Ricciardo has his stronger points, but also Verstappen. I consider them equal atm. I think most people like Daniel and with Max it seems to be either unconditional love or hate. I also don’t believe RB was giving Daniel a worse car on purpose last year. What would they win by doing that also looking at the constructors WC?

About Horner’s statement. I want to see this in the Netflix documentary first, before ‘judging’ him. I want to see the ‘context’ of that statement and even then you need to be carefull since it is edited content. However, just reading it now, I just think it is very sad.

keto95 · Feb 27, 2019

pcraenme said:
I also don’t believe RB was giving Daniel a worse car on purpose last year. What would they win by doing that also looking at the constructors WC?

Then I think you're quite naïve.
F1 is all about politics and as soon as someone announces his departure,
they always lose their privileges; no matter what the costs are.
It's obvious that the Baku matter decided Ricciardo to leave and he's right;
RedBull should've handled the situation better and guided both drivers throughout the race. It's called 'coaching'.

Helmet and Hornet drink too much of that energy crap and sniff too much gasoline. They're hallucinating and betting on the wrong horse.

Pjj · Feb 27, 2019

Ocon could add some insight on this.

michelforest · Feb 27, 2019

Horner is one of the biggest whiners in F1. He's always bitching and moaning about something or somebody.

tlsmikey · Feb 27, 2019

Wasn't he trying to get a seat at Mercedes with Hamilton? Yeah...that makes sense. He's running from Verstappen so he can race against Hamilton because that's so much easier.

beachamor · Feb 27, 2019

get the shovel ,what coming out of horner mouth, shovel the ,well you now

muzikant · Feb 27, 2019

Diogo Goetz Brand said:
If he's running from a Verstappen fight, I think he's doing the right thing. It would be quite difficult for him to fight against Red Bull's golden boy when the whole team is on his corner, even though Daniel is clearly the better driver.

Daniel is cleary the better driver ` what do you smoke? Max was whole season in 2018 better in Q3... better in overtakes... Ricardo is a nice guy I like him no doubt.
But If he was stay by Redbull this season. it was dangerous for his career in future

InsaneOzzie · Feb 27, 2019

Who gives a toss what Horner has to say, the guy is just flapping his gums for the sake of it, looking to get some limelight before the season starts and they, RB & Max, are stuck mid pack with their under whelming Honda. While Dan & Renault power away to take podium positions.

Deleted member 113561 · Feb 28, 2019

Ho3n3r said:
Aaaand... the handbags are out. Was wondering how long this would take.

Although, it has to be said, he's probably right.

dream on

He is running from an unreliable car that weirdly seems to be more reliable for Verstappen when it matters ...

Jonathan Young said:
[...] if you think that Danny Ric is a better driver than Verstappen, you’re smoking something!

Yep that is why Danny took pole in Mexico, or won the most difficult GP, the GP of Monaco. Omg love to smoke these fanboys.
P.s. Ricciardo beat also Verstappen in 2016 & 2017. And I never said that he is better, but you are clearly implying that Verstappen is better than Ricciardo, which is not true.

mrbungle83 · Feb 28, 2019

Diogo Goetz Brand said:
If he's running from a Verstappen fight, I think he's doing the right thing. It would be quite difficult for him to fight against Red Bull's golden boy when the whole team is on his corner, even though Daniel is clearly the better driver.

I like dan, but verstappen imo is Hamilton level fast. Ric can't match his skill level best jump ship.