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Daniel Ricciardo won eight Grands Prix during his Formula 1 career, and seven of those victories came in Red Bull colours.
Only 10 drivers in the sport’s history have won more races without winning a world championship. Ricciardo’s best finish in the standings was P3, a result he achieved in 2014 and 2016.
Amid the rise of Max Verstappen, Ricciardo took a stunning gamble by leaving Red Bull for Renault. It backfired because the French manufacturer didn’t live up to his expectations.
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He then joined a rebuilding McLaren team, where he earned his final race win at Monza. For the most part, he struggled alongside Lando Norris, culminating in the termination of his contract at the end of 2022.
Christian Horner says Daniel Ricciardo peaked at the wrong time
Ricciardo dropped off the F1 grid altogether when McLaren let him go, but he returned to the Red Bull family in 2023 as a reserve driver. When Nyck de Vries was axed mid-season by AlphaTauri, the Australian was back at the team where he had started his career (albeit in the guise of Toro Rosso).
Ricciardo aimed to return to Red Bull as Verstappen’s teammate but his performances weren’t strong enough to justify a promotion. He was ultimately dropped in favour of Liam Lawson with six races of the 2024 season remaining.
Speaking on The Christian O’Connell Show, ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner raved about Ricciardo on and off the track. He says ‘the sport misses’ the 36-year-old, who now considers himself retired.
Who is the best F1 driver never to win a world championship?
And he thinks that Ricciardo could have won a world championship if Red Bull had given him the car during his peak years.
“Daniel’s just a great guy,” said Horner. “He lights up a room when he walks in it. He’s got a big personality, a big heart. Very sensitive guy. I just clicked with him.
“He was a wonderful driver. Unfortunately, the car at the time where he was at his peak, we didn’t have the most competitive car on the grid.
“I think if we had, he could have been a world champion. A great guy, and I think the sport misses Daniel.”
Was Daniel Ricciardo the best driver in F1 during his peak?
Ricciardo comfortably beat four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel immediately after joining Red Bull in 2014. The German left the team at the end of that season.
But that was probably too early to be considered his peak. While Ricciardo only won one race in 2016, compared to three in 2014, this may have been the moment when he was most respected.
Indeed, Fernando Alonso told Ricciardo he was the best driver in F1 that year, even while Lewis Hamilton was fighting for the title at Mercedes.
Ricciardo remains the only driver to beat Max Verstappen over a full season (2017), though fans of the Dutchman would point out he was still only 19/20 at that time.
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