Christian Horner was asked about Daniel Ricciardo's race that had the most impact on him during the Australian driver's time racing for Red Bull. The director of the Milton Keynes team chose two examples of the Australian's talent, starting with his success in Monaco in 2018 (photos at the bottom), two years after a failure in the Principality.
“He had some brilliant races for us. I’m not going to name one, but two.” Horner said. “Monaco, when the good old Renault engine lost its MGU-K, losing about 30% of its power, and only had the combustion engine to fend off Sebastian Vettel.”
“After losing the race a few years before – when we screwed up by not having the right tires in the pit lane for him – it was an incredible moment, and it felt like the universe was correcting itself of himself by offering him this victory.”
For the other example that he wants to raise, the Briton recalls the pilot's second victory: “As for other races, if you look at Hungary 2014…” says Horner, who had been impressed by Ricciardo's ability to overtake his rivals.
“Our biggest worry when he came to drive for us was that we knew he was fast, but we had never seen him pass anyone, so we didn't know how good of an overtaker he was. when he got into our car, he never stopped overtaking people!”
“He was coming in so late on the brakes. If you look at the 2014 race in Hungary, if you look at his first win in Montreal, the race he won in China in 2018, I think. For me, in 2014, he was the best driver on the grid, it was his peak.”
