Red Bull boss declares Ricciardo ‘BEST DRIVER’ as 2025 lineup debated

Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner has claimed Daniel Ricciardo was his team's ‘best driver’ as the reigning champions continue to assess their 2025 lineup.

Horner's team have dropped to third place in the standings in 2024, despite star driver Max Verstappen being on track to secure his fourth consecutive title, potentially as early as this weekend at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

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Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez however has endured a torrid season, his poor performances allowing Ferrari to usurp Red Bull in the constructors’ battle, with reports suggesting the team are considering replacing the Mexican star for 2025.

Red Bull are no strangers to an early F1 axe, with the junior team, RB, having sacked Ricciardo following the Singapore GP and replacing him with Liam Lawson - who is now tipped for a Red Bull drive.

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Despite Ricciardo’s exit from F1, Horner remains complimentary of his former driver and has recently hailed him as the ‘best driver’ during one of his seasons with the team.

Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Horner was asked to name Ricciardo’s best performances in F1, citing the 2018 Monaco GP amongst his most impressive victories.

"He drove some brilliant races for us. I’m not going to name one, I’m going to name a couple,” Horner said.

"I think that some of the races, if you look at Hungary 2014… Our biggest concern when he came to drive for us was that we knew he was quick, but [we’d] never seen him overtake anybody, so we didn’t know how good a racer he was."

"As soon as he got in our car, he just never stopped overtaking people! He was so late on the brakes. If you look at that race from 2014 in Hungary, if you look at his first victory in Montreal, the race he won in China in 2018 I think it was.

"He was outstanding in that and when his confidence was sky-high… For me, in 2014 he was the best driver on the grid – that was his high point."

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