Despite his own recurring struggles at the wheel, Daniel Ricciardo is still in line to replace Sergio Perez who is ‘vulnerable’ at Red Bull. However, the Australian race driver doesn’t want to get carried away with his chances to make it to the senior Red Bull team and refuses to make predictions on his and Perez’s future.
“I would never make any predictions in this sport,” said Ricciardo as per Speedcafe. Ricciardo states that with the sport expanding, it’s becoming identical to Hollywood. Thus, for him, F1 is “so unpredictable.”
“So, do I have any proof that I’ll be anywhere else? I do not. Crazy things happen but I am certainly not in a place to say that or think that’ll predict that”, added the 35-year-old.
Ricciardo was incorporated back into Red Bull‘s setup in 2023 via AlphaTauri (now V-CARB). The reported intention was to keep him in the pipeline to replace Perez as the Mexican race driver had struggled last year as well.
News: Daniel Ricciardo expressed frustration as RB struggled with pace in the mixed conditions of the British Grand Prix, finishing in P13.
Ricciardo highlighted ongoing challenges, noting that recent upgrades haven’t brought the expected improvements.
With a tough… pic.twitter.com/XnDz627MQG
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However, Ricciardo himself has failed to impress and has remained inconsistent with his performances. So much so, that his future in F1 is itself in doubt.
Meanwhile, there are other drivers in Red Bull’s academy system who are waiting for their chances in the apex motorsport series. So to keep them at bay, Ricciardo needs to perform better.
Ricciardo needs to do better than Yuki Tsunoda to survive
Liam Lawson, who impressed everyone with his cameo in 2023, is also waiting for his chance. Moreover, Red Bull is also under pressure to get him a seat at V-CARB, but at the same time, they know the importance of Ricciardo.
With Tsunoda already confirmed for 2025, Ricciardo is the only option for Red Bull to remove to get Lawson. Thus, Tsunoda’s performances being the benchmark at V-CARB, Ricciardo certainly needs to be better than him for the remainder of the season to keep his seat.
And despite failing to outperform Tsunoda so far, Ricciardo surprisingly is still believed to be above the Japanese driver in the pecking order to replace Perez. It’s believed that Tsunoda’s alliance with Honda might not remain fruitful to Red Bull after 2025. However, Ricciardo’s edge might not remain for long as Red Bull certainly has other prospects as well.
