Daniel Ricciardo slammed for 'spectacularly bad timing' as Horner outlines Verstappen fear

Red Bull principal Christian Horner has questioned Daniel Ricciardo's decision to reject 'stratospheric' offers before ditching the team for Renault in 2018. After five seasons at Red Bull, Ricciardo made a surprising move to Renault amid fears Max Verstappen was Horner's number one driver.

He won seven Grand Prix with Red Bull but has struggled for form since leaving, facing issues at Renault and McLaren after his 2021 switch. Since joining McLaren, he has faced similar problems to his source of discontent at Red Bull, with team-mate Lando Norris often overshadowing his exploits.

The 22-year-old was expected to be McLaren's second driver after joining in 2019, but he is now reportedly earning more than Ricciardo on his new long-term contract. And the iconic British team are facing widespread performance struggles so far this season.

Delighted with Verstappen's first win of the season in last weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Horner has forced the knife further into Ricciardo's heart with his latest comments. The Red Bull boss believes Verstappen's rise to stardom and douts over the Honda engine contributed to the Aussie driver's shock exit.

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He told News Corp: "We put offers in front of him that were stratospheric. Daniel could see Max in the ascendancy and he didn't want to become the second driver. His timing was spectacularly bad because obviously he had doubts about the Honda engine and then [Honda] went on to prove it was a competitive power unit and a race-winning package."

Despite his deep-cutting comments, Horner admitted Red Bull were saddened by 'big personality' Ricciardo's departure. His relationship with the 32-year-old stems all