The management team of Red Bull junior Liam Lawson have responded to rumours that he could replace Daniel Ricciardo at Visa Cash App RB.
Ricciardo has endured a difficult start to his first full season back at the Red Bull junior team, sparking uncertainty over his future.
And through journalist Thomas Maher, Lawson’s camp have now given a two-word response to suggestions that RB could push the button on another driver swap.
Ricciardo finished 12th in his home race in Australia last weekend as teammate Yuki Tsunoda bagged six points in P7.
He had qualified down in 18th after triggering a lap-time deletion when he ran off the track on his final Q1 effort.
Tsunoda has also out-qualified the experienced Australian at each of the first three rounds.
Reports from Oceania claim that Helmut Marko has given Ricciardo three races to improve, or lose his seat to Lawson.
The former Red Bull driver replaced an under-performing Nyck de Vries midway through last season, but then broke his hand in his practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Lawson stepped into the car for the next five races and was able to score a couple of points.
Liam Lawson team confused over latest Daniel Ricciardo story
Maher reports that there are no currently ‘no plans’ to swap Ricciardo and Lawson, whether at the Miami Grand Prix or later in the season.
He add that Lawson’s own camp are confused as to where the latest information in the press has come from.
He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Lawson’s own management team also have “no idea” where this idea has come from – Lawson has not had any contact or comment to media regarding this story.”
Lawson, who dumped out world champion Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, beat Tsunoda twice in qualifying.
He also out-raced his vastly more experienced teammate on two occasions in an impressive stretch.
RB team principal Laurent Mekies admits the four-time F2 race-winner is in a ‘frustrating’ position this year.
However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has assured him that his time will come at the top level.
Will Ricciardo lose his seat at RB?
Ricciardo came into the 2024 season looking a ‘dead-cert’ to return to Red Bull next year as a replacement for Sergio Perez.
But the narrative has dramatically shifted within the space of three Grands Prix.
He arrived in Melbourne determined to silence his critics after Australian F1 world champion Alan Jones said his ‘best days’ were behind him.
But Channel 4 F1’s Alice Powell called his qualifying mishap an ‘absolute shocker’, while Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft bemoaned a ‘massive disappointment’.
Expert Mark Hughes believes something is ‘fundamentally wrong’ after examining Ricciardo’s lap times relative to his teammate.
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