Daniel Ricciardo may have impressed the Red Bull kingpins Christian Horner and Helmut Marko in Silverstone with his insane display of skills earlier this year. However, despite the promising test outing and the brief spell with AlphaTauri, the future doesn’t seem as secure for the Grand Prix winner amidst Marko’s public admission following the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
Ricciardo has been the lead prospect for Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull. The Mexican is visibly struggling for pace and by the looks of it, neither Horner nor Marko seem enthusiastic about extending his contract beyond 2024. Hence, with yet another uncertain future for the number 2 driver, Red Bull has been vying for the return of Ricciardo.
And of course, one can understand why Red Bull would prefer a driver like Ricciardo. While the Australian lacks extraordinary stats and a solid portfolio, he was indeed a Red Bull driver back in the day and remains the only driver to beat Verstappen as a teammate.
Therefore, the odds of Ricciardo making his way back to the leading world champions have been fairly high, only for Marko to make a wild admission and tone down the hype. Despite the light shining bright on Ricciardo, Marko doesn’t seem too keen on promoting him to Red Bull for one crucial reason.
Helmut Marko keeps F1 fans guessing about the future of Daniel Ricciardo
So far, Red Bull’s expectations with Perez are quite clear. The Milton Keynes outfit needs the Mexican driver to finish P2, with strong results in the latter half of this season. Of course, Perez must find a way to keep the flame going through next season as well for Red Bull to even reconsider their alleged decision on the six-time Grand Prix winner.
🚨 Helmut Marko says Red Bull has to be prepared about the future too as both Checo and Riccardo are over 30
“Of course we have to think about the future: Both Daniel Ricciardo and Checo Perez are over 30 and that depends on the two of them, what their ideas are, how long they… pic.twitter.com/bVZv4o3HB8
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) September 25, 2023
Meanwhile, for Ricciardo, Marko has demanded clarity from the Honey Badger’s future in Formula 1. “Of course, we have to think about the future: Both Daniel Ricciardo and Checo Perez are over 30 and that depends on the two of them, what their ideas are, how long they want to drive, and we have to be prepared for that,” the Red Bull talent hunter said.
Overall, the element of uncertainty prevails over both the drivers, with a lack of performance hurting Perez and a lack of running hurting Ricciardo. Hence, amidst depleting hopes of winning the Red Bull seat, will rookie Liam Lawson make an unexpected leap to the Horner-led outfit in 2025?
