29/06/2024
NEWS STORY
When questioned, neither Christian Horner nor Peter Bayer can guarantee that Daniel Ricciardo will not be replaced before the end of the season.
Despite the RB boss' claim just a few weeks back that both the current drivers would be retained, ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix Helmut Marko effectively said that Ricciardo is on notice and is likely to lose his seat to Liam Lawson next season.
The popular Australian had been hoping that the RB drive might mean a return to the 'big team', but the lack of consistent good form, not to mention the fact that Sergio Perez has been given a new contract, has put an end to that.
Indeed, due to his less than impressive form there is widespread speculation that RB might not even wait until season end before dropping the Australian, after all the team has history.
Speaking to the media, neither Horner nor Bayer was able to outright deny the possibility of Ricciardo being dropped mid-season.
"Anything regarding drivers is going to be dealt with in-house before we talk to the media about it," said Horner on Friday. "They're all Red Bull Racing drivers, and every Red Bull driver knows that there's always pressure, that there's always scrutiny.
"Daniel's in the seat and it's down to him to make the most of that," he added. "And then, it's always, as we see in Formula 1, things are always fluid.
"He knew this was a lifeline," he said of the RB drive, which came about when Nyck de Vries was dropped after ten races last year. "I'm sure, by his own admission, the first part of the season didn't go to plan, but he's started to show signs of the old Daniel. We saw it in Miami, certainly the first part of the weekend there. We saw it in Montreal.
"But in Formula 1, there's always pressure," he continued. "He knows that better than anyone, and particularly in Red Bull. Daniel is more than aware of that."
Refusing to be drawn on Ricciardo's future, Bayer instead focussed on Lawson.
"Liam is part of the team," he said. "He is our test driver. He's in the simulator. He'll be in the TPC (testing previous car). We do our job to develop young drivers, but the decision on the second seat will be taken quietly, and we're not in a hurry."
Asked about the speculation over Ricciardo being dropped during the summer break, he said: "As Christian said, this is about performance. We do, luckily, have a couple of options with the junior programme, but we're also not in a hurry to take a decision for next year's line-up. We've confirmed Yuki, which was very important for us.
"Focus currently, honestly, as you can tell, is on the car and to go into the summer break and have a quiet discussion."
Check out our Saturday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.