Ricciardo, 34, will replace Nyck de Vries in Red Bull’s junior team beginning with the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Max Verstappen’s contract runs until 2028, whereas Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez’s contract expires at the end of 2024.

“Daniel is dead set on pitching for that 2025 Red Bull,” Horner stated.

“That’s his ultimate goal, and he sees going to Alpha Tauri as the best way to make his case.”

So far in the 2023 season, Red Bull has dominated, winning all ten races, with reigning world champion Verstappen claiming eight and Perez two.

However, after a good start to the season, Perez’s form has dipped, and the Mexican has failed to qualify in the top 10 for the last five races, while Verstappen has won all of them.

This has fueled conjecture that Red Bull will replace Perez with Ricciardo if the Australian performs well alongside Yuki Tsunoda at Alpha Tauri.

Ricciardo left McLaren at the end of 2018 season and joined Red Bull as a third driver for 2023.

“At the moment, there’s only something in place until the end of the season, so there are no thoughts or expectations beyond that,” Horner stated on the official F1 Nation Hungarian GP preview podcast.

“We lent him to Alpha Tauri until the end of the year.” Our drivers will obviously be Max and Checo again next year, but it’s always wonderful to have talent on hand.”

“At the moment, there’s only something in place until the end of the season, so there are no thoughts or expectations beyond that,” Horner said on the F1 Nation Hungarian Grand Prix prep podcast.