Pushed on the “bigger picture”, and whether this covers only RB or Red Bull’s plans as well, Horner continued: “No, this goes beyond [RB]. It encompasses Red Bull Racing. Obviously, we’ve got a contract with Sergio [Perez] for next year, but you’ve always got to have an eye out in terms of what comes next.
“Is that going to be Liam? Or do we need to look outside the pool? Or will one of the other juniors step up in the fullness of time, whether it’s [F2 driver] Isack Hadjar or [F3 driver] Arvid Lindblad?”
ANALYSIS: Ricciardo’s F1 career looks to be over – how did it come to this?
Horner went on to pinpoint a “lack of consistency” as the main reason behind Ricciardo losing his seat, with little for the 35-year-old to celebrate beyond P4 in Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint in Miami, and a run to Q3 and the points in Canada.
“He started the season roughly, then Miami was a weekend of two halves,” Horner said. “The Friday and Saturday morning was fantastic, it looked like the Daniel of old defending against Ferraris, outdriving the car. But then the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday were disastrous.
“Even around [June’s Spanish Grand Prix weekend at] Barcelona, Helmut [Marko, Red Bull advisor] wanted him out of the car. There was already a lot of pressure on him there.”
