Red Bull F1 team advisor Helmut Marko has reportedly provided some worrying information about Daniel Ricciardo’s position on the side. The 79-year-old’s latest update would suggest that the Australian driver has fallen further in the pecking order.
Ricciardo rejoined Red Bull at the end of last season as a development driver. He made this move after partying ways with McLaren following a disastrous 2022 campaign.
The Australian finished a disappointing 11th in the championship last season with just 37 points. What was most surprising about his season last year was that he finished a whopping 85 points behind his relatively inexperienced McLaren teammate, Lando Norris.
Marko reveals Red Bull will prefer Liam Lawson over Ricciardo
According to formula1news.co.uk, Helmut Marko has confirmed that Red Bull will prefer junior driver Liam Lawson over Daniel Ricciardo in a situation when Sergio Perez or Max Verstappen is unable to race. The 79-year-old revealed this news soon after concerns emerged last weekend that Verstappen might be unable to race in Saudi Arabia because of his illness.
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AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost also confirmed the same during his recent interview. The 67-year-old said that while Red Bull could ‘theoretically’ ask Ricciardo to race this season, he would prefer the team not to make this call. Tost believes that Red Bull should focus on younger drivers such as Lawson and Dennis Hauger.
Lawson, who is believed to be Red Bull’s official reserve driver, is currently competing in the Japanese single-seater championship. The comments from both Marko and Tost clearly indicate that Red Bull sees Lawson as the future of the team.
Daniel Ricciardo’s future continues to remain uncertain for the 2024 season
After returning to Red Bull as a development driver, Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he was taking a sabbatical in the 2023 season and that he was keen on returning next year. However, F1 has only 20 spots available, and teams must be interested in signing Ricciardo if the Australian is to make a return in the 2024 season.
The top teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes) are unlikely to change their driver line-ups as they seemed to have performed well. Meanwhile, with Aston Martin just signing two-time champion Fernando Alonso, they also seem to have a stable line-up.
The places where an opportunity could open up for Ricciardo seem to be in teams that are fighting in the midfield. In case one of the drivers from the likes of Williams, Haas, or Alfa Romeo underperforms, there is a small chance that Ricciardo could return to the F1 grid next season.
