Daniel Ricciardo hopes of remaining in Formula One may be hanging by a thread. If certain reports are to believed, the likeable Aussie has just the upcoming races in Japan and China to prove his worth or risks being replaced by Liam Lawson.

The eight times Grand Prix winner lost his way having moved to McLaren following a two year stint at the then named Renault team based in Grove. Two years of being soundly beaten by his team mate Lando Norris saw Ricciardo shown the door a year before his McLaren contract expired.

 

 

 

Horner snapped up sacked Ricciardo

Christian Horner was keen to snap up his former driver as the reserve for both Red Bull owned teams, believing Daniel had merely “picked up some bad habits” since leaving his Red Bull home.

Ricciardo was given the opportunity to do a Pirelli tyre test in the RB19 last summer and was immediately rewarded with a seat at AlphTauri replacing the unfortunate Nyck de Vries after just ten races. Having impressed in Hungary and Belgium, Daniel was injured breaking his hand during practice at the Dutch Grand Prix following the Sumer break.

Daniel returned for the final five Grand Prix of 2023 and scored the highest place finish of the year with a P7 in Mexico. Yet since then it has been Tsunoda who looks the quicker driver and in qualifying has a significant edge over his more experienced team mate.

Damon Hill recalls the time he was working for Sky when McLaren made the big announcement they were recruiting the former Red Bull race winner. “I remember – I think it was at Imola, doing some stuff with Sky – we were interviewing Lando,” says the 1996 F1 champion driver.

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Daniel jibe at Lando backfires

“The news had come that he was going to be driving for McLaren alongside Lando and he walked past, went up to him and said in a kind of jokey way: ‘I’m going to end you,’” Hill recounts.

“I remember thinking: ‘Ouch, that was a bit of a bold comment’ – and it [turned out to be] the other way around.”

Hill suggests Ricciardo is experiencing a similar situation now at RB, “hunting all the time for setup.”

The former Williams champion is concerned Daniel has become a “fussy” driver, when it comes to setting up the car and likened the situation to that of Sebastian Vettel who fell from grace after F1’s 2014 new regulations marked the end of the blown diffuser era.

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Ricciardo important to VISA CASH APP deal

“Once you’ve had lots of experience, sometimes the experience overwrites everything else and you’re looking for that good experience again, in the setup and a feeling from a car, when it’s not going to come because – it’s a different car,” Hill posits.

Damon wonders whether the true greats of F1 just “get on within and adapt,” believing the likes of Ayrton Senna would ignore how the car handled and “just overcome it, overpower it? I think the latter is true.”

“At some point you have to say to Daniel: ‘Listen, your career is about to evaporate, you just have to get over it and just drive this damn thing and not look for perfection. You’re never going find it. It’s not coming. Alright? You’re going to have to find a way to drive this thing and wring its neck, because you’re getting beaten by Tsunoda.’”

Yet Ricciardo’s future may not be as precarious as certain New Zealand based F1 media outlets suggest. Ricciardo is managed by CAA Sports who brokered the naming rights deal with VISA CASH APP, telling CNN Ricciardo’s presence was a significant contribution. The claim that Daniel driving for RB increased the final amount VISA were prepared to offer is testimony to the marketing clout of the man who became the face of the Netflix docuseries, Drive to Survive.

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Daniel dropped for FP1 in Japan

Ricciardo has been dropped by RB for free practice one in Japan. His seat will be taken by former F2 winner Ayumu Iwasa, who like Lawson before his is competing in the Japanese Super Formula series this year.

Missing FP1 when a driver is struggling to beat his team mate will not help Ricciardo’s cause this weekend in Suzuka.

AS reporter Jesus Balseiro now believes Ricciardo is no longer in the frame to replace Sergio Perez. 

“Suddenly, you wouldn’t even think about him being part of the family in Red Bull, you wouldn’t even think about him as a candidate for next year’s Red Bull against Checo. That says something.

“Maybe Formula 1 is going in another direction and maybe Daniel is not following that trend, I don’t know.”

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Tsunoda future looks bleak

With the threat from Max Verstappen hanging over his head, Christian Horner may well decide time is up for Tsunoda given he believes the Japanese driver will never cope with the pressure cooker of driving alongside Max.

Despite Yuki scoring a P7 in Melbourne, Horenr remains to be convinced. “Yuki’s a very quick driver, we know that, but I think we want to feel the best pairing that we can in Red Bull Racing and sometimes you’ve got to look outside the pool as well,” said Horner when asked about the chances of Ysunoda being promoted.

“You’ve had a very fast unemployed driver win today,” added Horner. “The market is reasonably fluid with certain drivers.”

While Ricciardo’s tenure at RB to many is precarious at present, it merely takes the Aussie to beat his team mate over a handful of race weekends and the questions over his future will disappear.

Whatever happens to Daniel it seems Yuki will leave the Red Bull family at some point soon and the Japanese driver has been linked with Aston Martin following Honda’s announcement they will be providing the Silverstone based team with engines from 2026.

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Vettel’s old strategist predicts his F1 return

Sebastian Vettel has become the focus for fevered speculation about the German’s return to Formula One. He recently admitted having a conversation with Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff following the bombshell news that Lewis Hamilton was leaving for Ferrari next season.

Having tested a Porsche Le Mans hypercard last week, Sebastian was asked about his thoughts on a future return to the pinnacle of motorsport. “Of course you think about it and flirt with it,” Vettel admitted but refused to drawn on whether he was fully committed to the cause… READ MORE