Perform or perish seems to be the motto by which Red Bull’s young drivers program operates. Or perhaps it’s the binding philosophy for the entire team. Their habit of dropping drivers without giving them enough time to improve has shattered the confidence of many youngsters. Liam Lawson is the latest victim, replaced after just two races.
Red Bull demands strong results, and if drivers fail to deliver, the team doesn’t hesitate to shake up the lineup. It may seem impulsive, but that’s just how the team operates. Daniel Ricciardo, who has experienced the full cycle with Red Bull, knows a thing or two about why they make such decisions.
Ricciardo was on the receiving end of a brutal sacking by Red Bull’s sister team midway through last season. Citing poor performances and the team’s future, Racing Bulls replaced him with Lawson after the Singapore GP. Ricciardo had to swallow the bitter pill and accept that his F1 career might be over.
However, things weren’t always this grim for the Australian. At the start of his Red Bull journey, he got his debut with HRT in 2011 through the academy. It came at a cost, though.
It was a ruthless performance-centric culture and a harsh environment that he came through, even before reaching the starting point of his F1 career. But the young Ricciardo understood the challenge.
“That’s the thing about the Red Bull program. Yeah, it can be brutal, but it’s like that for a good reason. Racing at the highest level is brutal. You need to be ready for the ups and downs. It prepares you so when that call comes, you’re ready,” he wrote in a column for The Players’ Tribune in 2018.
When Ricciardo got his call to race for HRT as a driver on loan from Red Bull‘s academy at the 2011 British GP, he was a bit shaken. He had realized he wasn’t ready. “I thought I was ready. Then the call came. And I wasn’t ready,” wrote Ricciardo.
Daniel Ricciardo F1 debut for HRT. Back in 2011.
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“I was in my kitchen in Milton Keynes, U.K., with my parents on a rainy June day in 2011. My phone buzzed on the table. It was Helmut [Marko],” he added.
When Helmut Marko told him that he would get into the HRT seat for the remainder of that season, Ricciardo nearly dropped his phone.
The doubt on his readiness perhaps stemmed from the anxiety the young driver had, knowing that Marko and Red Bull would be keeping a close tab on his performances. If he didn’t live up to expectations, they would’ve dropped him from F1 altogether — bringing his dreams to an abrupt end.
Fortunately for Ricciardo, he did manage to impress Red Bull’s top brass, even though the HRT car was a backmarker. After that part-time stint, he proved his mettle at Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) for two years before earning a promotion to the top team in 2014.
Ricciardo went on to vindicate Red Bull’s ruthless approach to grooming drivers by beating reigning champion Sebastian Vettel in his debut season with the team.
While he never got a championship-winning car during his five-year stint in Milton Keynes, the Australian’s seven race wins and 29 podiums during the height of Mercedes’ dominance proved his credentials. It also proved that despite the ruthless approach, the Red Bull academy can produce truly elite racers.
