“Damage Got Done”: Being Lando Norris’ Teammate Was a Death Sentence For Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 Career

Daniel Ricciardo has managed to claw his way back into F1 through AlphaTauri. However, F1 pundits Johnny Herbert and Billy Monger believe that making his way into Red Bull from AlphaTauri would be a task next to impossible for the Australian because of Red Bull’s philosophy. According to them, Ricciardo’s career was over the moment he joined McLaren in 2021.

Herbert and Monger spoke on their podcast Lift the Lid about how Red Bull has a tradition of bringing up young promising talent into F1. The duo discussed Red Bull’s philosophy which is “Youth Will Prevail.”

They believe that even though Ricciardo is a safe bet for the team, Red Bull would will want to stick to their philosophy of giving young prodigies a chance in F1. Therefore, it is unlikely that Ricciardo would get the second seat at Red Bull even if he performs really well at AlphaTauri.

Daniel Ricciardo was no match for Lando Norris in McLaren

While discussing Ricciardo’s career, Herbert explained it has been on a downward spiral ever since he stepped into McLaren in 2021. Now that he has grown much older, Herbert is skeptical whether Ricciardo can replicate his race craft from when he was at his peak.

Herbert said, “Thing is, with Daniel, I think damage got done when he was up against Lando.” Throughout the two years at McLaren, Ricciardo was consistently beaten by Norris in the same car. In 2021, the season ended with Ricciardo being 45 points adrift of Norris. However, in 2022, things got even worse as the Australian finished 85 points behind his teammate.

And now even at Red Bull, Ricciardo faces the threat of falling short of Lando Norris. This is because Red Bull are reportedly trying to recruit the young Briton and create a superteam in 2025. If Red Bull does manage to sign Norris from McLaren, no matter how good Ricciardo performs at AlphaTauri, he won’t have a seat at Red Bull.

Lando Norris at Red Bull for the 2025 superteam?

Norris has been under the radar of Red Bull ever since his younger days. In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, the Briton revealed how he had spoken to Red Bull before deciding to step into F1 with McLaren.

Five years down the line, Red Bull are looking at securing the services of the young Briton once again. In an interview with Kleine Zeitung, Helmut Marko said, “He [Norris] has a contract with McLaren until 2025, but among the young drivers, he is by far the strongest. His youthful nature would also suit Red Bull the best.”

However, not everyone is too satisfied with the idea of Norris teaming up with Verstappen. F1 expert Joe Saward believes that becoming teammates with Verstappen would be a “career path from hell” for Norris.