Aussie Formula One great Mark Webber reveals he tried to convince Daniel Ricciardo to remain at Red Bull

Mark Webber warned Daniel Ricciardo against leaving Red Bull four years ago and has urged his compatriot to leave after returning to the Formula 1 grid with AlphaTauri.

The 34-year-old won seven races with Red Bull in five seasons with Red Bull before surprisingly joining Renault in 2019.

The move fell through as the French team struggled to be competitive and Ricciardo finished on the podium just twice in two seasons before signing for McLaren.

Despite ending the Woking team’s nine-year wait for a victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo’s spell at McLaren was disappointing and he was suspended at the end of last season.

And Webber revealed that he was trying to convince his compatriot to stay with Red Bull in 2018.

Ricciardo won seven races in five seasons with Red Bull, but left for Renault at the end of 2018

“I wanted him to stay with Red Bull,” the 46-year-old, who won nine races with Red Bull, told ITV.

“I think he knows that all those years ago I tried to persuade him to stay.

But of course he wanted to go to Renault at the time and then he went to McLaren. He’s been out for a year and now he’s back.’

Ricciardo confirmed last week that he would drive for AlphaTauri for the rest of the season after the team parted ways with rookie driver Nyck De Vries.

The Aussie comes on loan from Red Bull, owner of AlphaTauri, and will make his first start in the Hungarian Grand Prix next week.

Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as reserve driver this year after leaving McLaren 12 months ahead of schedule after two unsuccessful seasons.

The 34 year old sworn to remain in Formula 1 after being replaced by Oscar Piastri at McLarenbut failed to secure a spot on the grid this season.

But the Western Australian has been given a lifeline after AlphaTauri pulled the plug on De Vries, who failed to score a single point in 10 races this season.

The Australian had two largely disappointing seasons with Renault

Ricciardo had a similarly disappointing time with McLaren in 2021 and 2022

At the Australian Grand Prix in April, Ricciardo said he was only interested in driving for a top team and not one that has to start from scratch.

However, AlphaTauri are firmly at the other end of the scale, sitting at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship midway through the season.

And Webber said Ricciardo will need to get off to a flying start this weekend from his first start in Hungary.

“The stopwatch never lies, you give pressure or you take pressure.

“So now he’s back on the grid and he clearly has to act against it [teammate] Yuki [Tsunoda] quite soon and hopefully he can perform well.’

Speaking to Formula 1’s YouTube channel on Saturday, Ricciardo said he was enjoying the challenge ahead, despite the fact that he is unlikely to expand his 32 Formula 1 podiums any time soon.

The 34-year-old returned to Red Bull as a reserved driver and will be back on the grid this weekend after replacing Nyck De Vries at AlphaTauri.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“It’s certainly challenging to jump in and try to hit the ground running.

“But I also think I feel like I’ve been through a lot in the last few years where I’m not really afraid of anything that comes my way — so I really like the challenge.

“It will be a challenge, but I don’t know if I would want it any other way.”