Sergio Perez is currently in the last year of his Red Bull contract and many experts believe that the team will not extend his deal beyond 2024. Daniel Ricciardo is one of the candidates who can potentially replace Perez if Red Bull do decide to part ways with the Mexican. Although the Australian is keen on returning to Red Bull in 2025, he is not thinking about the same at the moment.
Sky Sports quoted Ricciardo as saying, “It’s not going to be a distraction. I know it’s somewhere in my head that I would feel a perfect way to finish my career in Formula 1 to go back full circle. But it’s not my focus, it’s a long-term thing for now.”
Perez has been under fire ever since last year when his form dropped drastically over the course of the 2023 season. In the end, even though he finished second in the Driver’s Championship, his gap to Max Verstappen was a whopping 290 points.
While the #11 driver was struggling to get the results last year, he has kickstarted the 2024 campaign on a positive note. During both the Bahrain GP and the Saudi Arabian GP, the 34-year-old finished in P2. If Perez can keep these results up, the team would perhaps have no reason to look elsewhere to fill the second seat on the team.
While Perez seems to have rediscovered his form, Ricciardo has been struggling. During both the opening two races of the 2024 season, Ricciardo was beaten by Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Daniel Ricciardo is fighting to save his F1 career
The opening race of the season in Bahrain saw a split strategy and team orders helped move Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. However, even then, the Australian could not catch and pass Kevin Magnussen. During the very next race weekend, the #3 driver finished behind Tsunoda with a late-race spin that exposed his struggles with this year’s car.
Ricciardo’s recent poor run of form has raised multiple questions about his future with the team. According to ex-F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, the Australian not only runs the risk of losing out on that Red Bull opportunity but also on his current V-CARB seat if things continue to go the way they are.
Moreover, just doing “enough” at V-CARB may also not mean that Ricciardo can keep his seat. Liam Lawson has been eagerly waiting for his full-time opportunity in F1 and could replace Ricciardo if the Honey Badger continues to underperform.
However, since the 2024 F1 season has a record 24 races, a lot can change between now and then. Hence, fortunes can change very quickly for both Ricciardo and Sergio Perez.
