McLaren respond to Ricciardo ‘bad habits’ claim from Horner – round-up

Wednesday’s F1 news features Christian Horner at the centre of a disagreement with McLaren over former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo and his “bad habits”.

Let’s rush through the day’s main headlines at the speed of light…

F1 news: Christian Horner on Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren and more

McLaren engineer responds to Christian Horner’s ‘bad habits’ Daniel Ricciardo assessment

Daniel Ricciardo’s former race engineer Tom Stallard has rejected Christian Horner’s claim that the Australian picked up some “bad habits” during his two-year stay at McLaren.

Horner revealed last year that Red Bull “did not recognise” Ricciardo’s driving style in the simulator following his return to the team from McLaren, where he struggled against Lando Norris across 2022/23.

Stallard, who now serves as Oscar Piastri’s race engineer, has given the McLaren perspective and argued that Ricciardo was “actually driving the car very normally” during his time at Woking.

Daniel Ricciardo spotted in ‘I’m retired’ cap with next move still uncertain

Daniel Ricciardo appears to have taken his F1 exit in good stride, with the former Red Bull VCARB driver pictured wearing a tongue-in-cheek ‘I’m retired’ hat in a light-hearted social media post.

Ricciardo was dropped for the second time in two years following last month’s Singapore Grand Prix, with Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson stepping up to contest the final six races of F1 2024 for the VCARB sister team.

The image has sparked rumours online that Ricciardo could be set to draw a line under his racing career with an F1 return now considered highly unlikely.

However, PlanetF1.com understands that the hat was just a bit of fun with Ricciardo’s next move undecided.

Christian Horner sends Sergio Perez warning as F1 2024 season resumes

Christian Horner says Red Bull “can’t afford” to have such a big gap between their drivers in F1 2025 in a fresh warning to Sergio Perez.

Perez currently trails team-mate Max Verstappen by 187 points ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, with the Mexican’s seat not yet believed to be safe for next year despite the signing of a new two-year contract in June.

With Liam Lawson set to be evaluated at VCARB across the rest of F1 2024, Horner has declared that Red Bull “desperately need answers” ahead of next season.

Max Verstappen admits Red Bull exit ‘possible’

Max Verstappen has admitted that it is “possible” that he could leave Red Bull, but has “enough to worry about” right now with the RB20’s performance waning.

Christian Horner told media including PlanetF1.com at August’s Dutch Grand Prix that Verstappen’s contract contains a “performance element”, which could allow the reigning three-time World Champion to walk away from Red Bull if the team fail to provide a competitive car.

Despite being under contract until the end of 2028, Verstappen has been linked with Mercedes and Aston Martin ahead of the big regulation changes in F1 2026.

Rumour: Audi F1 in stand off with Valtteri Bottas over F1 2025 contract

Mattia Binotto is reportedly playing a game of “poker” with Valtteri Bottas, with the Audi F1 chief refusing to give into the Finn’s demands as he has a “very good joker” in Mick Schumacher.

Schumacher has emerged as a credible alternative to Bottas for next season, with reports over recent weeks claiming the Mercedes reserve has entered the frame to partner Nico Hulkenberg for next season.

Bottas, who had been thought to be closing in on a new deal, has frequently aired his desire for a multi-year contract, with the 10-time grand prix winner unwilling to settle for a one-year arrangement.