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Ricciardo admires Horner’s hands-on role at Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo says he hugely appreciates what Red Bull team principal Christian Horner brings to the squad and feels the two share a good understanding and working relationship.

Ricciardo has worked with Horner since being promoted into the Red Bull squad at the start of 2014 after Mark Webber retired from F1 and over the past three seasons the pair have always had an open and constructive working dynamic.

Despite seeing three different team-mates on the other side of the Red Bull garage since joining, the Australian says Horner's key strengths are on the human side while he also appreciates what his team principal brings in terms of experience and input in team meetings.

"He's pretty easy going to be honest, he's present in a lot of our meetings and speaks up, he's not just sitting there and listening, he definitely has an opinion especially when it comes to race strategy," Ricciardo said of Horner. "I get along with him pretty well, he plays a good role in the team, he's a good people person, if there is any tension I think he's got a good hand on managing those issues.

"I think he's doing pretty well here, he's pretty experienced now, I like him as a boss, I think he's honest and fair, and yeah, doesn't give me too much of a hard time, so that helps."

Ricciardo says the pair also get on at a personal level and regularly join up outside of racing and F1 which he feels makes for a stronger and closer bond within the team unit.

"It's hard to socialise [at the track] as it's always business talk," he said. "I try and do a few meals throughout the year, you get away from racing and talk about other things and I think it's nice for relationships to know a little bit about what's happening in your own personal life.

"It creates a bit more of a closer relationship than just talking about tyre pressures and strategy the whole time, so we try and make a few points during the season to have a non-racing catch up."

Earlier this season Ricciardo signed a new contract to remain at Red Bull until the end of the 2018 season despite interest from Ferrari and is targeting winning the team's first world title since Sebastian Vettel in 2013. 

Zdroj: crash.net