The 2024 season has only just begun but speculations have arisen about Daniel Ricciardo’s future in the sport as Kiwi news outlet, the NZ Herald reports that Red Bull has handed an ultimatum to the #3 driver. The report, which has been doing the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), suggests that if the Australian does not pull his socks up over the next two races, Liam Lawson may replace him.
While the Herald believes that Ricciardo is on his way out of the sport, PlanetF1 has rebuffed such claims. As things stand, Lawson is a very impressive prospect for V-CARB to have in the team, but even though the Honey Badger has been lacking in form, the team isn’t in a hurry to give him the axe just yet.
F1 Journalist, Thomas Maher came onto his X account to reveal that there aren’t any plans currently to replace Ricciardo with Lawson. However, according to PlanetF1, the eight-time Grand Prix winner “is being given the hurry-up”, though.
While V-CARB has not made up their mind yet about the services of Ricciardo, the Australian racing ace is under pressure. Red Bull team advisor, Helmut Marko has already come on record to call out his performances. Naturally, he will have to dig deep and pull out a few solid performances in Japan and China to keep him in the good books of his employers.
Liam Lawson is knocking on the door for a 2025 seat
His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda has also received the same public criticism by Marko. While stating that Tsunoda was performing better than Ricciardo in Qualifying, both their race pace has not been up to the mark.
On the other hand, Lawson impressed the entire paddock with his cameo stint last year. While Lawson himself was expecting a full-time role in 2024, the Bulls put an end to that conversation even after seeing his flawless performances in the AT04.
Naturally, this left the young Kiwi disappointed. However, with the driver market shaping up to give the fans a few surprises in the coming months, Lawson probably has his best chance yet to force Red Bull’s hand into handing him a full-time drive for 2025.
