Red Bull junior Liam Lawson’s manager recently hinted at Daniel Ricciardo being replaced by his client ahead of the upcoming race in Imola. Responding to this, Helmut Marko lashed out at these bizarre claims and shut down all talks of Ricciardo’s sacking.
Marko, Red Bull’s Chief Advisor, took to his Speed Week column to make remarks on what Lawson’s manager said. He wrote,
“The rumors that Ricciardo will be replaced by Liam Lawson at Imola are nonsense. Liam’s manager from New Zealand, apparently said he has certain dreams that have been made known through the media. Nothing at all is planned for Imola.”
At the same time, Marko admits that V-CARB will evaluate Ricciardo’s future at some point. By saying this, he puts the Perth-born driver under pressure, despite his redeeming performance in Miami earlier this month.
Ricciardo qualified and finished P4 in the Sprint race in Miami, showing signs that he was finally getting up to speed at the Faenza-based outfit. However, his performance during the rest of the weekend was particularly disappointing.
Ricciardo qualified in P18 and finished outside the points in the Grand Prix, which once again gave rise to rumors of Lawson replacing him. However, since Ricciardo is an established driver, V-CARB may give him more time before considering replacing him, unlike what they did with Nyck de Vries.
On the other hand, if Lawson doesn’t get a seat next season, Red Bull may lose the New Zealand driver to its rivals.
Red Bull’s rivals may poach Liam Lawson
Lawson made quite the name for himself in 2023, after his five-race cameo as Ricciardo’s substitute. The 22-year-old also outperformed Yuki Tsunoda in the duration, which made him certain that he was in the running for the Championship.
Unfortunately for him, the AlphaTauri (now V-CARB) seats went to Ricciardo and Tsunoda instead, which left the Kiwi driver disappointed. Red Bull still has him on the sidelines as its sister team’s reserve driver. But what Lawson really wants is a shot at F1 racing consistently.
Since Marko’s comments suggest that V-CARB has no plans of replacing Ricciardo in the near future, Liam Lawson could be forced to look elsewhere in order to make his dreams come true.
