2024 is a pivotal year for Sergio Perez as his performances this season could play a significant role in influencing his career trajectory. The Mexican is currently driving for Red Bull, who arguably have the fastest car on the current grid. However, since his contract expires at the end of the 2024 season, many drivers are hoping to replace him. Two of these drivers are Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, both of whom are currently driving for V-CARB, Red Bull’s sister team.
Although both Ricciardo and Tsunoda are fighting to get the promotion to the senior team next year, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s recent claims may hurt their chances of achieving their future goal. The Austrian recently claimed in a recent interview that both Ricciardo and Tsunoda are yet very slow.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports Germany, Marko said (as quoted by f1maximaal.nl), “Ricciardo is currently a bit behind and Tsunoda is therefore faster, but outside of his qualifying he still has to improve. During the race, they are both still too slow“.
The Austrian then added that if either Ricciardo or Tsunoda want to get the promotion to Red Bull, then they definitely need to perform better than Sergio Perez, something which is not happening at the moment. Marko added that the least he expected of Ricciardo and Tsunoda after the first two races was to get a point each.
The Red Bull advisor believes that since both Ricciardo and Tsunoda made mistakes that cost them a chance of doing so, he does not see either of them getting the promotion to the senior team. Marko is adamant that if any driver wants that coveted Red Bull seat, then they “shouldn’t make any mistakes“.
Sergio Perez favorite to retain his Red Bull seat
Although Sergio Perez came under massive pressure last season because of his underwhelming performances, F1 expert David Croft yet believes that he is the favorite to retain his Red Bull seat. The 53-year-old believes that Perez has met his targets this season, finishing second in both the opening two races.
As for Daniel Ricciardo, Croft believes that the Australian has just not done enough to have a case to secure that second Red Bull seat. The expert believes that Ricciardo should worry more about retaining his F1 seat with V-CARB rather than potentially replacing Perez at Red Bull because the Honey Badger has been struggling massively.
Although Ricciardo is the senior driver between himself and Yuki Tsunoda, it is the Japanese who seems to have the edge at the moment. Tsunoda out-qualified Ricciardo during both the Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and also reached Q3 once.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo only managed to qualify P14 in both races. Moreover, considering Marko’s recent assessment of the three drivers, it does seem that Perez is the favorite to retain the Red Bull seat as long as he continues to retain second position in the Drivers’ Championship.
