‘Nobody is waiting’ for ‘finished’ Daniel Ricciardo after latest Red Bull exit

Christian Horner’s hint that Daniel Ricciardo could return to Red Bull was nothing more than him “being politically sweet” as the Aussie is “finished in Formula 1”, says Renger van der Zande.

Ricciardo returned to the Formula 1 grid with Red Bull’s junior team at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix when he replaced the beleaguered Nyck de Vries but, just 14 months on, he was the one being dropped from the VCARB line-up.

Daniel Ricciardo was dropped by VCARB after the Singapore GP

Failing to fire in his comeback, the team put to rest months of speculation when they announced after the Singapore Grand Prix that Ricciardo had been replaced by Liam Lawson with immediate effect.

That brought a probable end to Ricciardo’s career, which has spanned 14 years and included eight race wins, 32 podiums and three pole positions.

It could have included a lot more had he not jumped ship from Red Bull to Renault in 2019, van der Zande saying the Australian racer would’ve been a good number two to Max Verstappen.

“He was the one who left Red Bull, for the big money,” the Dutch racing driver told Ziggo Sport Race Café. “They took him back at Red Bull, which he should be very happy with already.

“He doesn’t have the spark, he doesn’t have the fireworks that was hoped for. But when he left [Red Bull] he didn’t have it either. He could have been the perfect number two.”

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Although dropped by VCARB, Red Bull team boss Horner left the door open for Ricciardo to potentially make a return to the grid.

“One never really knows,” he told the F1 Nation podcast. “If Liam doesn’t get the job done, if Checo [Perez] doesn’t get the job done… We know what Daniel’s capability is.”

Van der Zande reckons that’s more a case of Horner being polite as he cannot see why anyone would want Ricciardo.

“Horner is the reason he was put in that car, Helmut Marko wanted to throw him out straight away,” he said of Horner’s comment. “That’s being politically sweet.

“He is finished in Formula 1, he is not coming back. Nobody is waiting for Daniel Ricciardo.”

However, his fellow pundit and Dutch racing driver Arie Luyendyk doesn’t agree, after all the next generation of F1 cars may suit Ricciardo’s driving style.

“Niki Lauda quit and came back again. Then everyone said he’s no good at all. And then he became World Champion. You don’t know,” he said. “Imagine the penny suddenly dropping with the new cars.”

Lauda quit Formula 1 two races before the end of the 1979 season but returned with McLaren in 1982 to win the title three years later.

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