Daniel Ricciardo Responds to Red Bull’s ‘Scared’ Taunt

Sometime ago, Red Bull’s Christian Horner spoke of Daniel Ricciardo and his sudden departure to Renault. He suggested that the Australian was ‘running away from a fight’ with rising star, Max Verstappen.

Now, Ricciardo has responded to the comments by his former team boss. Horner’s thoughts were revealed in one of the episodes of the upcoming Netflix documentary, ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’. Speaking to an Australian media platform, EFTM, he said: “Firstly, and I’m sure he’s not the only one who has that opinion, I can see how people might want to think that or say that.

He continued, confirming that the decision mostly centred around him rather than his rivalry with Verstappen.

Ricciardo stressed on the fact that he was with the Austrian outfit for a grand total of five years.

What he found lucrative about the team was that they had already won four world titles. So, a year later Ricciardo came knocking on the doorstep. He joined with the belief that within five years that elusive world title would be his.

Sadly for him, it never came and Red Bull never really got close to challenging. However, he was quick to allay concerns about sour grapes and said that he was not bitter about it.

He continued “My ability to become more frustrated in this environment was too high and I just don’t want to be that kind of unhappy, bitter person that’s just always ‘what could have been’, or ‘if only I’ve joined Red Bull in 2013’.

“So, it wasn’t about Max. [But] I understand how some people might think that.”

He has stated, time and again, that the reason for the sudden switch was the desire for a fresh and new challenge. Needless to say, he looks relatively happier with Renault and new teammate Nico Hulkenberg. He even admitted that it ‘felt nice to be the younger driver again’.