Christian Horner offers Daniel Ricciardo new role as Red Bull door left ajar

Christian Horner has confirmed Red Bull have offered Daniel Ricciardo an ambassadorial role to stay with the team following his F1 axe.

Red Bull’s bosses decided to replace Ricciardo with Liam Lawson at their sister team RB for the remaining six races of the 2024 F1 season, with the Singapore Grand Prix appearing to be the 35-year-old Australian’s final hurrah in the sport.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast following news of the driver swap, Red Bull team principal Horner stressed he would like Ricciardo to remain linked to the team and even teased the possibility that the eight-time grand prix winner could still make a shock return.

“Daniel is just a brilliant character, he’s a brilliant human being,” Horner said. “He lights up a room when he walks into it, you know, he’s got that infectious smile.

“We never did manage to do a toothpaste deal with him! We tried very hard. But I hope he stays around the sport and we’ve made it very clear that we want him to remain in an ambassadorial capacity with the team.

“And of course, one never really knows, I mean, if Liam doesn’t get the job done, if Checo doesn’t get the job done [laughs], we know what Daniel’s capability is.

“But I think for him, he knows, at the age that he’s at, he’s had a great career, so many memories. The most disgusting thing ever was drinking champagne out of his sweaty boot. But he made it his own, and he got some incredible people to drink the champagne from his sweaty shoe.”

Despite being handed a new two-year contract which runs until the end of 2025, Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull remains uncertain as he continues to struggle for form alongside Max Verstappen.

Asked what Red Bull’s ideal scenario is for next season, Horner replied: “That obviously Checo finds his form and rediscovers the shape he was in at the beginning of the year and nothing changes.

“But as we know in this business, two weeks is long-term.”