Christian Horner ‘slapped Helmut Marko on the leg’ after what he said to Daniel Ricciardo

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Christian Horner and Helmut Marko appear to be the senior figures responsible for driver decisions at Red Bull. The team’s ownership will naturally have an input too and were no doubt involved in the meetings that led to the departure of Daniel Ricciardo.

RB confirmed on Thursday that Ricciardo had lost his drive with immediate effect. Liam Lawson will replace him for at least the final six races of 2024.

Horner has long been an ally of Ricciardo, while Marko has pushed for Lawson. The Austrian says that Red Bull shareholders wanted the team to promote young talent again.

In this instance, Marko won out. But it’s also advantageous for Horner, who will have the opportunity to assess Lawson over the two remaining triple-headers.

If he impresses, then he will give the team a compelling plan-b to Sergio Perez, who continues to underwhelm. They will now have a sufficient sample size of races, across two different years, on which to judge Lawson.

Ironically, Red Bull are still searching for a worthy successor to Ricciardo. All three of the drivers who have held the seat since (Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Perez) haven’t been able to get anywhere near as close to Max Verstappen.

Helmut Marko said Red Bull wanted to win titles with Max Verstappen over Daniel Ricciardo

During Ricciardo’s time at Red Bull, the team weren’t in a position to compete for the title. He raced for them at the height of Mercedes’ dominance.

According to ESPN, Ricciardo, his father Joe and his agent Glenn Beavis spoke with Horner and Marko prior to the 2018 Monaco GP. Marko expressed optimism that the Australian could win the title that year.

Ricciardo had won the third race of the season in China and would go on to take victory in Monaco. But it was quickly pointed out to him that Mercedes and Ferrari would likely be too fast.

More significantly, though, Marko said that Red Bull wanted to win the championship with Verstappen in 2019 and 2020. That prompted an ‘exasperated’ Horner to slap him on the leg and insist that the team weren’t prioritising the Dutchman.

Ricciardo and his camp were already growing concerned that Red Bull planned to build around Verstappen. And naturally, these comments ‘added fuel to a growing fire’.

What Lewis Hamilton said to Daniel Ricciardo after RB exit

Renault sensed an opportunity and snapped up Ricciardo ahead of the 2019 season. It was a stunning move, and one that he may now regret.

By 2021, Red Bull were competing for the title, though it’s unclear whether he could have challenged. Verstappen had gone up a level by then and the car was built according to his preferences.

Prior to Thursday’s news, senior figures were tight-lipped about RB’s driver plans. Guenther Steiner finds it ‘strange’ that Marko wasn’t more outspoken given his track record.

The eventual announcement was met with a series of messages from the sport’s elite drivers. Lewis Hamilton called Ricciardo a ‘legend’, while Verstappen urged him to keep his ‘head up’.