Why Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull: The fear of being overwhelmed by the rising Max Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo reveals how the rise of Max Verstappen influenced his decision to leave Red Bull.

Ricciardo’s confession

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were not pleased with Daniel Ricciardo’s ‘escape’ to Renault in the summer of 2018. The Red Bull team principal and consultant had presented the Australian with a lucrative contract renewal offer—after, of course, securing Max Verstappen with a very generous long-term deal—but Daniel Ricciardo chose to join Renault, where he would undoubtedly be the team’s number one driver.

The reasons behind the move

Among the many reasons that led Daniel Ricciardo to leave Red Bull were concerns—later proven unfounded—about the competitiveness of the Honda power unit, which would start powering the Milton Keynes cars from 2019 onward with significant success.

However, in an interview with The Athletic, Daniel Ricciardo admitted that another major factor was the fear of being outpaced by Verstappen in the following seasons: “Looking back, that was obviously the biggest sliding door moment of my career,” Daniel Ricciardo said. “But there were several reasons that made me believe it still wouldn’t have worked out. In 2018, it was head-to-head between me and Verstappen, and we pushed each other hard, but I can’t deny that I imagined a scenario where I would be beaten and completely overshadowed by Verstappen in the following seasons. If that had happened, my career might have ended even sooner.”

Daniel Ricciardo’s retrospective on his Red Bull exit reveals a calculated decision to protect his professional longevity. While the move to Renault is often debated as a missed chance to win during Red Bull’s subsequent dominance, the Australian views it through the lens of mental and competitive survival. Facing a prime Max Verstappen is a task that has broken many talented drivers’ careers, and his admission highlights the immense difficulty of sharing a garage with a driver of that caliber. Ultimately, his “sliding door” moment allowed him to carve out a different path in the paddock, avoiding a potential collapse that could have seen him exit the sport much earlier than intended.