[PapaofGags]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-b...o/4317699/

Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner believes that his team did everything it could to convince Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo to stay for next season.

After weeks of discussions, Ricciardo was expected to sign a new contract with the Milton Keynes-based squad shortly after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

But the Australian opted instead to join Renault and caught Horner and Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko by surprise when he informed them of his decision.

“We looked at it and I think we did everything that we possibly could to retain him,” Horner told Motorsport.com.

“He actually said this – he did the classic break-up [line] – it not you, it’s me! And I think he just genuinely wanted to take on a new challenge.

“I think he was also probably concerned about his value with the evolution of Max [Verstappen], and was probably uncertain about Honda at that time. Subsequently he’s seen what we were talking about start to come to fruition.