Christian Horner has hinted at when a decision will be made regarding Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 future.
The ‘Honey Badger’ made his return to the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he fought back to 13th after early contact with Zhou Guanyu and the Alpine duo.
It was his first race of the year after he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri following his own dismissal from McLaren at the end of 2022.
Despite returning to the team he burst onto the scene with, Ricciardo only has eyes for the Red Bull drive in the future and Horner believes a decision date is almost set.
“He sees it as the quickest route back to getting a competitive seat,” Horner told the media at the Belgian GP. “His objectives are clearly on a 2025 Red Bull seat.
“We have a vacancy, now Daniel has an opportunity to demonstrate that he hasn’t lost any of his form and then a decision will be made.”
Extremely good
Ricciardo’s eye-opening race at the Hungaroring certainly got Horner’s attention as he fought back with a stellar stint on medium tyres to finish where he started following his first corner dramas.
The Red Bull team principal was especially impressed as he had not driven the AlphaTauri car prior to FP1 in Budapest.
“It was very difficult circumstances for him getting dropped into a car he’s never sat in before,” Horner added. “I thought he did very, very well.
“To qualify in the top 13, he was a little bit unlucky at the start of the race but when you look at his race pace, particularly that long run on the medium tyre, his pace was extremely good.
“For a comeback drive in difficult circumstances, he acquitted himself very well.”
