Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he ‘feels for’ Christian Horner and says he hopes the ongoing Red Bull scandal that has rocked Formula 1 will ‘go away’.
A series of WhatsApp messages and photos that Horner allegedly sent to a female employee were leaked a day after the 50-year-old was acquitted by Red Bull of “coercive behavior towards a female colleague” ahead of the 2024 season premiere in Bahrain.
Unsurprisingly, all eyes were on Horner during the first race weekend of the season, as his wife Geri Halliwell flew to the Middle East to present a united front with her beleaguered husband.
But despite their very public display of unity, there is still unrest at Red Bull. Jos Verstappen, father of three-time world champion Max, has called on Horner to leave or risk ‘exploding’ the team.
And Ricciardo, who shares a close bond with Horner after being given a second lifeline in F1 by the 50-year-old last year, wants the matter cleared up as soon as possible.
Daniel Ricciardo has shared his thoughts on the Christian Horner scandal
The beleaguered Red Bull boss has been fighting for his job this month
“Of course you want things to go smoother than they are,” he told RTBF Sport in Saudi Arabia.
‘There is undoubtedly a lot of noise and distraction at the moment. Look, the way they (Red Bull) performed last week, you would think (there was nothing wrong).
‘Being able to still focus on things on the track is also a big strength of theirs, so hopefully these things slowly start to go away and they can just concentrate on being a racing team.
‘It is not always easy for the drivers either, but they have handled this well.’
Before the race in Bahrain, Ricciardo said he felt sorry for Horner.
“When we took part in the test, we were obviously aware of everything that was happening,” Ricciardo told media such as Crash.net in Bahrain on Wednesday.
“But I would say, was it a distraction on the track? No, it wasn’t. Knowing that we also have so little time, it was really ‘I have to focus on me, my team, my driving’ and try to start this week as strong as possible.
‘Do I feel sorry for him through all this? Yes, I have known Christian for a long time.
“He’s always been great to me. So I hope that there will be a fair outcome and solution soon.’
Formula 1 driver Ricciardo, who is close to Horner, hopes the saga ‘disappears’
Elsewhere, when asked ahead of Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix whether his father regretted his comments, world champion Verstappen said: “I didn’t ask him that, but my father, as I know him from karting, is very candid, and he is. not a liar, that’s for sure. That’s what I can say about things.
‘My father and I are very close. We call every day. On the other hand, I’m not the guy who likes to talk a lot about certain things and I just want to concentrate on driving. If there are any problems, we try to solve them within the team.’
Horner, 50, has pledged to stay in an £8million-a-year job after being cleared of ‘coercive behavior’ towards a female colleague – although his position was damaged when an extraordinary email – sent anonymously to key F1 figures – revealed that he had exchanged sexually suggestive WhatsApp messages with the employee.
Vertappen added: ‘I don’t see myself in F1 without my father and (manager) Raymond Vermeulen.’
Rumors circulated that Verstappen Snr wrote to Horner out of some kind of vendetta. He emphatically denied this to Mail Sport.
Max said: ‘The only one who knows that is my father himself. People will make it up and speculate and think they know why he said certain things, but he’s the only one who knows.
“Social media is there to speculate and make things up, and there’s not much I can do about that.”