Changes might be afoot on the Formula 1 grid sooner rather than later with pressure on every team to continually improve their performances.
With only 20 spots on the grid, it means there are plenty of drivers ready and waiting for their chances and the standard of those replacements is incredibly high, especially with so many contracts expiring at the end of the season.
Speaking on the On Track GP Podcast, racing driver and pundit Richard Bradley had his say on who could be the first person to lose their place on the grid.
There are several fascinating battles between constructors up and down the grid.
Ferrari are trying to hunt down Red Bull and Mercedes are narrowly ahead of a Fernando Alonso-led Aston Martin.
However, right now there are just seven points between the bottom five teams and right now every top-ten finish has big implications.
Bradley now believes that Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo is set to lose his seat after the Miami Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old Australian has failed to score a point this season and crashed out before the end of the first lap in Japan.
He’s also in the unenviable position of having Liam Lawson lurking in the garage waiting for his chance to shine after a brilliant cameo in 2023.
READ MORE: Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Richard Bradley thinks Daniel Ricciardo will lose his RB seat after the Miami Grand Prix
It’s not the first time this year that Ricciardo’s immediate Formula 1 future has been discussed.
After admitting the gap between himself and teammate Yuki Tsunoda in Australia was ‘puzzling’, rumours started to spread that he was in danger of being replaced.
A report emerged suggesting that Ricciardo had until the race in Miami to save his RB seat before being replaced by Liam Lawson.
Lawson’s management denied this, but another tough end to the weekend in Suzuka hasn’t helped matters.
He was within hundreds of Tsunoda in qualifying but that was the difference between reaching and missing out on Q3.
Ricciardo was then swamped at the start by cars on softer tyres and sent himself and Alex Albon into the barriers.
Daniel Ricciardo might already be under serious pressure
Asked how many races he thinks Daniel Ricciardo has left, Richard Bradley said: “He’s gone after Miami, 100%.
“As soon as we go to Europe, he’s gone after Miami. I mean that crash that happened in Suzuka, I did a lot of my racing in my junior years in Japan and I did Super Formula GT there, so I’ve raced at Suzuka loads of times.
“And that crash, it was almost like a complete lapse of concentration. At that point, if you come out of that first corner, you know you’re going to have cars in your blind spot.
“There’s a huge blind spot in a Formula 1 car anyway and if there’s a car on your outside there, it doesn’t really matter what happens because you’re not going to be able to overtake the car in front.
“So, to swing across into [Alex] Albon like he did, it was an amateur mistake that you’d expect a Formula 4 driver to make.
“I was really surprised by that and you’ve seen nothing at the minute that’s convincing you that he deserves to stay in that seat over Liam Lawson.
“I think they’ll get China out of the way, they’ll get Miami out of the way and then they’ll reset for the European leg of the season and I think you’ll see Lawson in the car.”
Daniel Ricciardo deserves patience before being replaced – opinion
It would be incredibly harsh for Ricciardo to lose his RB seat after the Miami Grand Prix even if he’s been slightly off the pace compared to Yuki Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson is also very talented, but Ricciardo still has a higher ceiling at this stage of his career.
There have been question marks over whether Ricciardo still has the confidence in his own ability to reach the very top again.
And while he looks less likely to drive for Red Bull next year, Ricciardo still wants to be part of the RB set-up in 2025.
More improvement may be required to convince Laurent Mekies he deserves an extension considering how well Tsunoda is performing and the expectation that Lawson will be handed a seat.
But you don’t win eight Grand Prix in Formula 1 without having plenty of talent, Ricciardo just needs time to unlock it.
The post ‘Gone after Miami’: F1 pundit ‘100%’ convinced ‘amateur’ driver is about to lose his seat on the grid appeared first on F1 Oversteer.