The passage sits inside a chapter revisiting the Australian’s 2014 arrival at Red Bull. In the book, as reported by GiveMeSport, Horner calls Ricciardo “a fantastic driver, and the perfect replacement for Sebastian’s number one seat”. Then he puts a date on why it did not work.
“Maybe Daniel had arrived at Red Bull at the wrong moment. The poor guy had jumped into the car during 2014 expecting us to challenge for championships and then watched as Mercedes streaked away from us, winning 16 races during our worst season in four years.”
Ricciardo was promoted from Toro Rosso to replace the retiring Mark Webber alongside four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. The new hybrid-era rules handed Mercedes an immediate advantage that would last the better part of a decade. The Australian still won three races in that first season at Red Bull, in Canada, Hungary and Belgium, and finished third in the drivers’ standings, ahead of Vettel.
The ‘personality to overcome adversity’
Horner’s affection for Ricciardo as a person runs through the chapter.
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“But if anyone at Red Bull had the personality to overcome adversity, it was Daniel. He brimmed with enthusiasm, had a great sense of humour, and his connection with the team, our fans and media was strengthened by a smile that endeared him to everybody he met.”
The partnership cooled as Max Verstappen rose. By 2018 the Dutchman was the quicker driver and, in Horner’s telling, had “the killer instinct”, according to GPFans’ reading of the same memoir. A collision between the two team-mates at that year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix became the flashpoint. Ricciardo signed for Renault at the end of the season.
Horner is writing from outside Red Bull
The book is the first thing Horner has published since his own break with the team. Red Bull released him from his operational duties on 9 July 2025 after 20 years as team principal, with Laurent Mekies moving up from Racing Bulls to take over.
Drive is published on 22 October 2026 by Transworld, part of Penguin Random House, with Horner narrating the audiobook himself. The Ricciardo passage is one of several from the memoir that have been trailed in the F1 press this week.
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Ricciardo’s own ending
Ricciardo never recovered the trajectory he had at Red Bull. Two seasons at Renault were followed by a difficult spell at McLaren, a year without a race seat in 2023, and a return with AlphaTauri, later rebranded as Visa Cash App RB. That second chance was cut short in September 2024, when he was dropped after the Singapore Grand Prix and replaced by Liam Lawson.
Drive went on sale on 22 October.
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