Horner kept Ricciardo in F1 

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated a “lack of consistency” ended up costing Daniel Ricciardo his F1 seat, but the flick could have been much earlier if Helmut Marko had his way.

Ricciardo’s F1 career appears over after he was dumped by Racing Bulls in favour of Kiwi reserve Liam Lawson in the aftermath of a tough Singapore Grand Prix.

For the second time in two years the eight-time Grand Prix winner has found himself off the grid and this time it appears for good.

Ricciardo the beneficiary of a similar moment last year when he replaced the discarded Nyck de Vries at what was then called AlphaTauri with hopes of rediscovering his form to push for a Red Bull reunion with Max Verstappen in place of Sergio Perez.

But performances like a P4 in the Miami Sprint or P8 at Canada proved to be outliers as he sits 14th in the championship, two places and 10 points lower than younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast with Tom Clarkson, Horner revealed Ricciardo needed to perform more often and this moment would have arrived nine races earlier in Barcelona if 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. 

“Obviously as Checo lost form, Daniel found a bit of form, but it was never compelling enough to say, ‘Okay, we should switch the two drivers’.

“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.”

Although Ricciardo is no longer racing in F1, Horner will “hugely miss” the “Honey Badger” thanks to his late-braking overtakes, shoeys on the podium, the biggest smile in the paddock and more.

However, he may had cheekily left the door slightly open to a third comeback if desperate.

“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.

“If Liam does not get the job done or Checo, then we know what Daniel’s capability is.

“I think he knows at the age he is at he has had a great career with so many memories but unfortunately the next chapter was not to be.”

Lawson will return to Racing Bulls at the American Grand Prix on October 19-21.