Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo is a driver under pressure right now.
The Australian scored two more points at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday but still trails teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the Drivers’ Championship after 11 race weekends.
At the start of the season, Daniel Ricciardo would have had one eye on replacing Sergio Perez in the senior Red Bull team.
However, despite the Mexican’s concerning form, he was offered a new deal before the Canadian Grand Prix and just days later Tsunoda’s future was confirmed as well.
This has left Ricciardo as the vulnerable driver in the Red Bull quartet with Liam Lawson standing in the garage every weekend waiting for his opportunity.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko spoke to Kleine Zeitung before the race in Austria about the situation and said: “The shareholders have made it clear that it is a junior team and we have to act accordingly.
“The goal was that he [Daniel Ricciardo] would be considered for Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is no longer valid.
“We will have to put a young driver in there soon, that would be Liam Lawson.”
However, talking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast, journalist Tom Clarkson relayed a conversation he had with Ricciardo’s manager during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
With so much talk about the 35-year-old’s immediate future, he allayed fears that Ricciardo was going to lose his seat shortly.
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Daniel Ricciardo’s manager addresses Helmut Marko’s comments about his future
After discussing the eight-time race winner’s performance in Austria, Clarkson said: “Just to close up on the [Daniel] Ricciardo thing is that his manager was telling me yesterday that they, Daniel, has not been given the hurry up by anyone at Red Bull.
“So, that was the response to the comments from Helmut Marko, nothing has been said to Daniel, but he doesn’t need the hurry up when he’s driving like that.”
While it wasn’t the perfect race weekend for Ricciardo in Austria, he achieved the most important task of beating his teammate.
He was out-qualified by the Japanese driver for the Sprint Race and was four seconds behind Tsunoda at the chequered flag on Saturday morning.
However, the changes Ricciardo made ahead of qualifying for the Grand Prix paid off and he started three positions further forward than the 24-year-old.
Ricciardo then executed the best race he could, leapfrogging Esteban Ocon and benefitting from Lando Norris’s retirement to add to his points tally.
Daniel Ricciardo looks set to see out the 2024 F1 season
Ricciardo’s form has certainly improved in recent races especially as he had to wait until the Miami Grand Prix to score his first points of the season.
He swapped his chassis after the Japanese Grand Prix and although no performance improvements were expected when he made the change, the placebo effect might have been just what he needed.
Tsunoda has still been the more impressive RB driver this year, but at least Ricciardo appears to have been given assurances that he’s not immediately at risk of being replaced despite Marko’s comments.
Journalist Lawrence Barretto believes RB have made their decision on whether to make a midseason swap with Liam Lawson although that doesn’t mean anything is set in stone for 2025.
What it does mean is that Ricciardo is in the strongest position to prove to RB that he deserves one more year with the team.
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