Red Bull boss Christian Horner had Daniel Ricciardo in his mind to replace Sergio Perez. These rumors have been floating around for a long time. Especially since Sergio Perez lost his grip on the title. He had a pretty good start to the season, winning a couple of races. Moreover, Checo became the first racer in F1 history to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix twice. Adding to that, Sergio Perez revealed his desire to win the championship. But his performance got progressively worse since the Monaco Grand Prix. People hoped to see Checo do well in Monaco since it is also a sprint format like Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
However, the Mexican driver did not live up to expectations. He had a few eliminations in Q3 sessions. On the other hand, his teammate went on to win eight straight races. Hence, there was no trouble with the RB19 car, and all the pressure fell down on Sergio Perez. On the other hand, Christian Horner recently mentioned that Ricciardo did everything right since joining Alpha Tauri. Speaking to Autosport, Christian Horner seemed very happy with the eight-time Grand Prix winner’s performance after returning to Alpha Tauri.
Christian Horner Feels Daniel Ricciardo Met All Expectations After Returning To Alpha Tauri
Daniel Ricciardo did not drive an F1 car for seven months straight and then replaced Nyck De Vries in Alpha Tauri. But he did pretty well since he started racing again in F1 from the Hungarian Grand Prix this year. Moreover, he beat his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in Hungaroring, finishing P13. Later in Spa, Belgium, Daniel Ricciardo made a P16 finish. Important to mention the AT04 is not as fast as RB19; in fact, a very difficult car to drive, but the Aussie did well. Hence, Christian Horner told Autosport that Daniel Ricciardo met all expectations after his return to the sister team of Red Bull.
Moreover, Horner pointed out the tire test in Silverstone, where Daniel Ricciardo impressed everybody. On top of that, Christian Horner believes the eight-time Grand Prix winner brings a lot of experience and a sort of direction to the Alpha Tauri team. The Aussie has acquitted in the team very well, believes the Red Bull Boss. But Daniel Ricciardo never really hides his desire to drive for Red Bull again, and that’s where he wants to finish his career.
Why Alpha Tauri Signed The Aussie Replacing The Dutch FE Champion?
Everybody could see Daniel Ricciardo returned to Red Bull early in the season. Hence, the rumor was Christian Horner and the management were planning to replace Checo, and the Aussie would take his place. Then after ten races in the season, the Red Bull Racing management fired Nyck De Vries of Alpha Tauri. It seemed pretty quick and drastic at the beginning.
But gradually, things started to make sense. Moreover, when Daniel Ricciardo replaced De Vries, it was clear that Christian Horner was planning to see if the Aussie was ready to replace Checo. There was no more doubt regarding why the Aussie moved to Red Bull’s sister team. As long as Sergio Perez does not manage to win a race or beat Max Verstappen, the replacement is going to be only a matter of time.
