06/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Despite claims that the Australian's future is in doubt, German media claims that Red Bull is considering putting Daniel Ricciardo in Sergio Perez' car.
The claim comes from Auto Motor und Sport, one of the more reliable, respected media sources, not known for the sensationalistic claims of rivals.
Despite the team recently signing the Mexican on a contract that runs through to the end of 2026, the report claims that the contract features "strict performance clauses", whilst also quoting Helmut Marko, who said that - in terms of the situation - "We'll know more by the summer break".
While the Mexican's form has dropped off significantly since the opening phase of the season, Ricciardo's has hardly been impressive and going into last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix it was being claimed that he was under threat from Liam Lawson.
However, his drive to ninth is said to have eased his plight, which now, just seven days later sees him linked with a shock move back to the 'big team'.
RB team boss, Peter Bayer had previously said that the Faenza-based outfit hoped to retain both Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, but only the Japanese has been officially confirmed for next season, thereby adding to the speculation surrounding Ricciardo's future, and last week both he and Christian Horner remained non-committal when asked about the Australian.
"Obviously Sergio has had a tough spell," Horner told Sky Sports yesterday. "His first five races were very competitive. The last five have been nowhere, and we want to see the Sergio from the first five back. He knows that, he's aware of that, he's been working hard in the sim this week, working hard to understand where it's just not playing out for him. But what we've constantly seen with him is this resilience to be able to bounce back. We're hoping to see that very soon."
Asked if the team has been premature in agreeing a new contract, Horner said: "That's a brutally hard question. It made absolute sense to sign Checo at that point in time, but this is a business in which there are pressures to deliver.
"We thought the contract would help," he added. "I think it's something that Checo is working very hard on, and he knows this is a sport where there's no hiding. Particularly with Max Verstappen as your teammate.
"He knows he's being measured against the very best, and we need him up there supporting Max, because there's two McLarens now, there's two Ferraris, there's two Mercedes and we need there to be desperately two Red Bulls."
Of course, Red Bull, and particularly Marko, have history, not only for moving drivers from team to team and firing them mid-season, but for knowing how to work the media in a bid to light fires beneath under-performing backsides.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Silverstone here.