F1 News: Red Bull should be praised over Ricciardo, not panned
Red Bull has taken flak for the way a tearful, but popular, Australian Daniel Ricciardo left the F1 paddock after his final grand prix while official confirmation of his ousting was still lacking.
But former F1 driver Marc Surer says the energy drink brand actually deserves credit.
“The fact that Red Bull gave him a second chance was fantastic,” he said. “He was basically nowhere and then given the status of reserve driver. Then they put him back in a car.
“Maybe they could have done more in that last weekend, but I think Red Bull’s second chance is something to be highly credited to them.”
Surer is 100% correct. Ricciardo underperformed in his previous two teams and was eventually ousted by McLaren with no job. Red Bull stepped in, but they are vilified by the bias British media because their driver, Max Verstappen, ended British driver Lewis Hamilton’s domination of F1.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast with Tom Clarkson, Christian Horner revealed Ricciardo needed to perform more often and this moment would have arrived nine races earlier in Barcelona if Dr. Helmut Marko had the final word.
“It was the lack of consistency,” Horner replied as to why Ricciardo was cut.
“Miami was the weekend of two halves. Friday and Saturday morning was the Ricciardo of old fighting off against Ferraris and outdriving the car. But then Saturday afternoon and Sunday were disastrous.
“Even in Spain Helmut wanted him out of the car and put a lot of pressure on him.
“I had done my very best to keep him in the car otherwise he would have been out by Barcelona.
“All the drivers are under pressure to deliver but the reason why Daniel was there to get back into a position to pick up the pieces if Checo (Perez) did not deliver.
“The problem was, they both had issues with form at varying times. Checo started the season very well, very strongly, and Daniel was struggling.
“In a perfect world that (Ricciardo completing the season) would have been what we would have done, but from a broader perspective we need answers for the bigger picture in terms of drivers.
“With six races remaining it is the perfect opportunity to line Liam up with Yuki to see how he performs.
“This goes beyond VCARB and encompasses Red Bull Racing. We have a contract with Sergio for next year but you always need to have an eye on what comes next.”
“Daniel is a brilliant character and human. He lights up a room when he walks in,” Horner said.
“I hope he stays in the sport and we made it very clear we want him to remain in an ambassador capacity with the team.
Related Article: Supercars Rumor: Series will try to lure Ricciardo back to Australia
Daniel Ricciardo would be welcomed with “open arms” if he wants to keep his motor racing career alive in his native Australia.
That’s the invitation of Supercars Australia boss Shane Howard, after Ricciardo was dropped with immediate effect by Red Bull’s F1 program.
Red Bull is offering the 8-time grand prix winner a return to his PR and marketing role, with continuing supporter Christian Horner even hinting that if Ricciardo remains in the paddock, his F1 career could be re-fired.
Howard, however, CEO of Australia’s national touring car series, has another idea.
“I think everyone would welcome Daniel with open arms, absolutely,” he said at the media launch of the famous Bathurst 1000 Supercars race.
“Would we like to see Daniel Ricciardo in a Supercar? 100 percent. It would be absolutely massive. He is such an incredible driver and such an incredible personality and people just absolutely love him.
“Imagine him racing at Bathurst – wow,” Howard added. “That would be very cool indeed.”
He admits he is yet to reach out to Ricciardo, 35, or his management.
“At an appropriate time we will reach out,” said Howard. “Obviously he has got a lot going on and we respect that.
“Blake Friend, in his management team, used to work for us,” he noted. “At the right time we would reach out, but we would certainly like to have him in one of our cars.”