Red Bull has been speculating on Daniel Ricciardo for a while now. At the start of the 2023 season, the Aussie was part of the Austrian team as their third driver. Clearly, Christian Horner’s team was showing interest in bringing back the Aussie in their squad as the replacement for Sergio Perez. Moreover, Checo’s status in the team worsened when Max Verstappen in 2022 said no to the team’s plans to slow down for the Mexican driver. The three-time champion was adamant to deny his team’s plans.
Since that incident, there were rumors about the chemistry between the two Red Bull drivers worsening. Those rumors seemed even more accurate when Daniel Ricciardo returned as a third driver. Horner said early in the 2023 season that the Aussie was out of touch from racing in F1 and also needed time to feel passionate about the sport. But the Aussie did not get much opportunity to race in any Grand Prix with the RB19 car. Lately, Daniel Ricciardo wishes to replace Sergio Perez in 2025 when the Mexican driver’s contract expires.
Daniel Ricciardo Wishes To Replace Sergio Perez In 2025
Recently, in an interview, the former Red Bull driver expressed his desire to make a Red Bull return in 2025. The Aussie even wants to end his career racing for the Milton Keynes team. However, the replacement of Sergio Perez won’t be as easy to confirm. At first, the Austrian team will take a close look at how the Aussie performs next year. Moreover, there can be another possibility of Checo performing better than expectations. On the other hand, there are few more young and energetic drivers waiting in line for an opportunity to take the Red Bull seat.
Some of those other drivers are already with the Alpha Tauri team. Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson (the third driver) are also contenders for the Red Bull seat. However, Daniel Ricciardo is definitely the favorite to get the seat. Sometimes experience counts more than youthful energy. Moreover, Alpha Tauri has a far worse car than what kind of material RB19 is. It won’t be easy for Tsunoda and Lawson to adapt right away in the superior Red Bull car.
Red Bull Might Have To Think Twice Before Replacing Checo
Moreover, Sergio Perez started the 2023 season brilliantly. He went on to win a couple of races in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Moreover, Checo became the first and only driver so far to win a couple of races in Baku. Later, Red Bull traded Ricciardo to their sister team, Alpha Tauri, as a replacement of Nyck De Vries. As a result, the Aussie began to resume his F1 racing career. He had a pretty good start at Silverstone.
However, at Zandvoort, the Aussie crashed and injured himself. Hence, he again had to stay out for a while. In the meantime, the Mexican driver was getting worse. He could not handle the pressure of being Max Verstappen’s teammate very well. Anyway, after the final race of 2023, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner both claimed that Checo would stay as the team’s second driver in 2024 as well.