Sebastian Vettel’s decision to leave Red Bull was partly motivated by Daniel Ricciardo’s pace, according to team principal Christian Horner.
It’s long been rumoured that the German has a say in who his team-mate is, something some have put down to him insisting on being ‘number one’ within the team.
However with the arrival of Ricciardo, who outpaced Vettel from the very first race to eventually score three wins to none during the 2014 season, it shook Vettel and Horner reckons it was “probably a factor” in his motivation to move to Ferrari.
“[The Italian GP] was quite a defining moment for Sebastian,” Horner told BBC Sport when discussing Ricciardo’s overtake on Vettel at the second chicane.
“He was enormously frustrated after that grand prix,” he added, believing that helped the four-time champion make his mind up about where he wanted to be.
“I think Ferrari were courting him quite hard and around Monza was the time he made the decision to do something different next year,” said Horner. “By the time he got to Singapore you could see he was a different person.”
Explaining why Vettel struggled against Ricciardo, Horner said it wasn’t because he’d gotten any slower, it was because he simply took time to adapt to the new regulations.
“The rule changes were significant and the two guys who seem to have been affected most are Seb and Kimi [Raikkonen] and I think taking away the rear downforce has actually been a big factor for Sebastian.
“How he generated his lap time was very much using the rear of the car on entry into the slower corners, which was much diminished this year, and that together with the brake-by-wire system had taken away some of the feeling of the braking that he is so dependent on.”
