Last Monday (13), through an interview on the Eff Won podcast, Christian Horner, head of Red Bull, recalled the season in which Daniel Ricciardo was part of the team, telling details about the behind-the-scenes of his negotiations with the driver in 2018 with the brand.
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The businessman reported that due to bad advice, the driver was denied the opportunity to stay at Red Bull and close a contract equivalent to the one Max Verstappen currently has. However, fearing indefinite negotiations, Daniel Ricciardo preferred to accept the agreement with Renault, now Alpine.
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“Daniel is an incredible person, who was very poorly advised at the beginning of his career. Everyone makes a mistake leaving Red Bull. He didn’t have good advice around him at that time. He noticed Max was growing up, and probably didn’t realize how good he would be. It was obvious at that moment that Max was coming, and you could see the raw talent, it just needed to be polished a little,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
The businessman continued to explain that all the team managers were excited and determined to invest in the driver’s career and that they were planning a two-year contract with a high value. However, after the German circuit, in which an incident occurred with the Australian’s vehicle, everything changed.
Daniel Ricciardo had signaled to his agent that he would like a year less on his contract and that he would sign it the day before the Budapest circuit, however, the days passed and the driver did not make any agreement.
“I remember he called me while I was in the car, he said ‘I just got off the plane, I thought about it the whole flight and I decided I’m not going to sign the contract’. I asked if he had received an offer from Mercedes or Ferrari and he told me ‘no, I’m going to sign with Renault’. I was shocked because he had been complaining about the engine for two years and then signed with them”, he concluded.