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'I did my best to buy him'- Christian Horner admits Helmut Marco wanted Daniel Ricciardo out after Spanish GP

Christian Horner wanted Daniel Ricciardo to perform again but the Australian driver failed in his opportunity by finishing behind his teammate.

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Venkata Krishnan
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Horner daniel (Instagram)

(Source: Christian Horner/Instagram)

The sacking of Daniel Ricciardo by Red Bull has drawn criticism from fans who started pouring their grief in support of the Australian driver. The 8-time Grand Prix winner has been in Formula 1 since 2014 and his time in Red Bull was seen as one of the best for the Australian. 

His former team boss Christian Horner has shed more light on the background of Ricciardo’s sacking from the RB team. He said Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko wanted to replace Daniel Ricciardo with Liam Lawson after the Spanish GP, but it was he who bought the Australian some more time to prove himself once again. 

'Helmut wanted him out' - Christian Horner

Horner said Ricciardo’s exit was mainly due to a lack of consistency in his racing. Helmut Marko and Horner expected Ricciardo to be in his peak form this season to put him back in the Red Bull squad. But Ricciardo was no way near that as he was completely dominated by his young teammate Yuki Tsunoda.  

The current Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was also giving tough times to the team as they are behind McLaren in the Constructors title. McLaren and its drivers are very consistent as they hit the podium regularly unlike the Red Bull team where Max Verstappen is the only one to be seen in Podiums very often. 

Talking about Daniel Ricciardo who was hand-picked by Horner for the Red Bull team he says “I’ve done my very best to buy him as much time in the car to allow him to deliver. Otherwise, he would have been out of the car after Barcelona. All the drivers are under pressure to deliver, but the reason that Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo didn't deliver.”

The reason to get Lawson racing suddenly was to ensure their driver's capabilities before the end of this season. Horner says “We need answers for the bigger picture in terms of drivers. With six races remaining, it's the perfect opportunity to line Liam alongside Yuki to see how he performs over the remaining six grand prix.”

Also Read: 'Hamilton would be 8x champion if...'- Former Formula 1 Team Boss Gives Verdict on 2021 Abu Dhabi Drama

Formula 1 Red Bull Christian Horner Daniel Ricciardo
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