Christian Horner admits one F1 driver he’s following still has a ‘huge amount to prove’

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted that Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo still has a ‘huge amount to prove’.

The 2024 Formula 1 season is arguably going to be the most important of Daniel Ricciardo’s career.

After being offered a second chance by AlphaTauri last year, Netflix chronicled his return to racing during Season 6 of Drive to Survive.

Horner admits Ricciardo has a lot to prove

Twelve months ago, the Formula 1 grid was getting ready for the first race of the season in Bahrain without Daniel Ricciardo for the first time since 2010.

The Australian is not only a huge personality within the sport, but he’s seriously quick as well.

His time with McLaren didn’t go to plan and it made perfect sense for the team to replace him with Oscar Piastri.

However, when Nyck de Vries wasn’t up to scratch during his debut season with AlphaTauri, the Red Bull group saw the perfect opportunity to get the Australian back into an F1 car.

Christian Horner has now shared that Ricciardo still has something to prove to himself after returning to the sport.

His ultimate aim is to be back in the main Red Bull team before he retires, likely at the expense of Sergio Perez.

He’s going to need to have a brilliant 2024 to try and make that dream happen.

Ricciardo on the charge for Red Bull seat

Speaking about the driver known as The Honey Badger, Ricciardo said: “Daniel’s got a huge amount to prove, probably to himself as much as anybody else.

“He was one of the highest-regarded drivers in Formula 1 three or four years ago. And in 2023, nobody wanted to give him a race seat. There’s still the question marks of what happened at McLaren over the last couple of years.

“So, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him. In Formula 1, you’re judged against your teammate.

“We’re following Daniel very closely. He is a prospect for us in 2025 if he delivers and he knows that. But his teammate at AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda, also knows that and he will be making sure that he’s putting himself at the forefront of our mind as well.”

Ricciardo will hope he can prove to Horner that he’s deserving of a seat at Red Bull going forward and that it was the right call to keep him in the Visa Cash App RB team.

Liam Lawson was fantastic last year during his injury layoff but couldn’t secure a place on the grid for 2024.

If the Australian does earn a promotion then his Antipodean colleague may benefit as well.