Daniel Ricciardo does not believe Sebastian Vettel ever seriously considered quitting F1 during his poor run of form in 2014.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed that his departed driver had gone through a period of “disillusionment” with the sport’s new regulations. The four-time world champion failed to win a race in a full season for the first time in his career and was comprehensively outperformed by Ricciardo.

However, the Australian doesn’t think he demoralised his team-mate to the point of quitting and is expecting Vettel to be reinvigorated at Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo believes that Red Bull can close the gap on Mercedes in 2015 Daniel Ricciardo believes that Red Bull can close the gap on Mercedes in 2015

“From what I saw he was never going to leave," Ricciardo told Sky Sports News HQ. "He’s way too passionate about the sport to just walk away.

“With Ferrari this year he’s going to have a challenge, but I think he’ll come out of his shell some more and try and get them going again.”

Vettel has replaced Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, leaving Ricciardo to take on the role of de facto team leader at Red Bull in 2015 when he is paired with 20-year-old Daniil Kvyat. The 2013 GP3 champion has just a solitary season of F1 experience, but Ricciardo is expecting big things from his new partner.

“Danii’s going to get some good results,” he added. “I’m sure he’ll get a taste of a podium and we’ll see if he can get a win, but obviously I’ll do my bit to get as many as I can.”

The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary of all three winter tests, starting in Jerez on Sunday February 1, with live updates from trackside also on Sky Sports News HQ.