Red Bull director Helmut Marko has weighed in on claims that Daniel Ricciardo could lose his RB seat to Liam Lawson in the early part of the season.
Reports after the Australian Grand Prix claimed that the struggling Ricciardo is already at risk of forfeiting his drive to Lawson.
And Marko has now given his take on the latest stories via Motosport-Total.
The suggestion is that Ricciardo has three races to save his drive after a difficult start to the campaign.
If he doesn’t improve in Japan, China and Miami, then he could receive the chop.
Yuki Tsunoda has out-qualified Ricciardo at each of the first three races this year.
The Japanese driver got six points on the board in Melbourne, while his teammate remains score-less for the season.
Tsunoda reached Q3 on Saturday while Ricciardo fell at the first hurdle after race control deleted his lap time for exceeding track limits.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle says rumours are ‘swirling’ about the 34-year-old’s future in the paddock.
But Lawson’s management team insist they have ‘no idea’ whether the Imola driver swap rumours have come from.
The reserve driver is waiting in the wings after deputising for the injured Australian at five Grands Prix last year.
Helmut Marko plays down talk of Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo swap
Marko apparently thinks the story belongs in the ‘realm of fables’, insisting that Red Bull have issued no such ‘ultimatum’ to Ricciardo.
He suspects that RB inadvertently triggered the speculation when they agreed to let Ayumu Iwasa drive his car in FP1 at Suzuka.
Red Bull junior Iwasa will partner Tsunoda for the session in an all-Japanese line-up.
But that doesn’t offer any reflection on where Ricciardo stands within the team.
Who is Liam Lawson?
Lawson joined the Red Bull family in 2019 ahead of his first season in Formula 3, where he scored two podiums en route to 11th place.
He delivered an improved showing the following year, taking his first three wins and finishing fifth overall.
His ensuing F2 career followed a similar trajectory as he jumped from ninth in 2021 to third in 2022.
Overall, he took five race wins and 13 podiums during his time in the second-tier series.
Whilst there, he locked horns with the likes of Williams driver Logan Sargeant, Aston Martin reserve Felipe Drugovich and Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire.
AlphaTauri called up Lawson for an unexpected F1 debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix when Ricciardo broke his hand.
He brought the car home in 13th place in a rain-affected weekend, and scored a couple of points for the team two rounds later in Singapore.
In qualifying for that event, he knocked out the reigning world champion Max Verstappen to reach Q3.
Lawson stacked up well against Tsunoda on both a Saturday and a Sunday, starting in front of him twice and out-racing him three times.
RB team principal Laurent Mekies admits he’s in a ‘frustrating’ position this year but Red Bull boss Christian Horner has assured him his time will come.
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