Mark Webber's Red Bull exit branded "disrespectful" as Daniel Ricciardo praised

Red Bull Racing has a long, highly complicated history with Australian drivers. Mark Webber helped build the team's winning foundation during Sebastian Vettel's championship years, while Daniel Ricciardo took the baton and led the garage at the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era.

In a recent 60 Minutes Australia interview, Christian Horner offered a look back at how both men operated within his team. Free from the standard corporate PR lines, Horner did not hold back when comparing the bitter end of Webber's tenure to the explosive arrival of Ricciardo.

By 2013, the relationship between Mark Webber and Red Bull was thoroughly fractured. The infamous "Multi 21" saga at the Malaysian Grand Prix had pushed the intense rivalry between Webber and Sebastian Vettel to a breaking point.

On the Thursday before the 2013 British Grand Prix, Webber announced his retirement from Formula 1 for the end of the season. But the Australian driver chose to release the news directly to the media regarding his move to Porsche without informing Horner face-to-face first. Over a decade later, the sting of that exit strategy remains a defining memory for the former team boss.

Mark Webber, Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal

Photo by: Motorsport Images

"I was just sad when he left that he did it in the manner that he did," Horner stated bluntly. "I thought it was disrespectful to the team as well."

While Horner noted that the passage of time has provided perspective and that the two men are on fine terms today, the corporate slight of announcing a departure to the press rather than the team principal clearly left a lasting impression.

Webber's departure opened the door for Daniel Ricciardo, who was promoted to Red Bull in 2014. Coming from the junior Toro Rosso squad, there were genuine doubts within Red Bull management about whether Ricciardo had the elite racecraft necessary to battle at the front of the grid.

Horner explained how quickly those doubts were erased once Ricciardo was put in race-winning machinery.

"Our hesitation was that we hadn't seen him overtake too many cars, and then when he got in the Red Bull car he never stopped overtaking people," Horner recalled. "He became an animal on the brakes and won three Grand Prix in his first year with us."

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Those three victories came at the Canadian Grand Prix, with further wins in Hungary and Belgium. Achieving that success during a season utterly dominated by the Mercedes team - and routinely outperforming the four-time defending champion Vettel in the same garage - firmly established Ricciardo as one of the premier late-brakers in modern F1 history.

Horner's reflections highlight the intense, high-stakes driver management required at Red Bull, showcasing how quickly an unproven prospect can become a team legend, and how easily a veteran's exit can turn sour.

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- The Motorsport.com Team