The spotlight has been on Daniel Ricciardo recently after the Australian was announced to make his return to the F1 grid next weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 34-year-old will replace the recently sacked Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri after the Dutchman failed to live up to the expectations of the team. While it is only now that Ricciardo is making his return to the F1 grid, his fans have wanted Red Bull to sign him instead of the struggling Sergio Perez for some time now. However, it seems that Red Bull have no intention of replacing the Mexican at the moment despite his struggles.
Perez has had quite the struggles recently as he has failed to qualify for Q3 for five consecutive races. As the 33-year-old continues to struggle, there are rumors that Ricciardo could replace him after his successful tests at Silverstone. The Australian set a whopping lap time that many believe would have been good enough for the front row of the grid at the recently concluded British Grand Prix.
According to reports, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was so impressed with Ricciardo that he immediately called Helmut Marko to sign the 34-year-old for AlphaTauri. But, the question that arises is whether Red Bull would sign Ricciardo for the senior team if he continues to impress at AlphaTauri for the remainder of the 2023 season?
Daniel Ricciardo unlikely to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull
In a recent Lift The Lid podcast, Billy Monger and Jonny Herbert gave their take on Daniel Ricciardo’s testing at Silverstone. When asked if they believed that the Australian is brought in at AlphaTauri to consider him as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez, they replied no, much to the sadness of the British fans.
Monger and Herbert explained how Red Bull has a philosophy that “youth will prevail,” which is why Ricciardo is unlikely to get a seat on the senior team. They believe that while the Australian is a “safe bet“, Red Bull are likely to give a chance to some of their younger drivers.
One driver that has been rumored for the second Red Bull seat is McLaren’s Lando Norris. The Briton was all over the news after this past weekend when he finished second at the British Grand Prix, only behind race winner Max Verstappen.
Will Red Bull replace Sergio Perez with Lando Norris?
Red Bull for long have had their eyes on Lando Norris and at one point the team was also keen on signing the 23-year-old. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently revealed the same when he referred to the Briton as the “strongest” among the upcoming drivers.
As quoted by gpfans.com, the Austrian told Kleine Zeitung, “He has a contract with McLaren until 2025, but among the young drivers, he is by far the strongest. His youthful nature would also suit Red Bull the best“. Marko also stated that Red Bull had also previously attempted to sign Norris, but that they failed to do so as the Briton remains committed to McLaren.
Since Marko made a special reference to Norris’ age, it seems all the more unlikely that they will sign Daniel Ricciardo if they choose to replace Sergio Perez for the next season. However, it is fair to say that irrespective of what the future holds for the Mexican, it will be interesting to see if any driver makes a big move ahead of the next season.
