Daniel Ricciardo would have hoped he had a route back to Red Bull when he re-joined the junior team midway through last year. Christian Horner handed him a lifeline after the decision to axe Nyck de Vries. Ricciardo had, of course, left of his own volition at the end of the 2018 season as he tried to pursue his championship ambitions elsewhere. But Renault didn’t meet his expectations and he then struggled up against Lando Norris at McLaren. The Australian found himself back at square one, but he knew that, if he could earn a return to Red Bull, he’d be able to add to his tally of eight race w…