Ricciardo reveals regular discussions with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko over Red Bull future
The last twelve months have been chaotic for Red Bull, and not least for Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian has spent a year with Red Bull’s second team in a bid to earn the seat alongside Max Verstappen. Although Yuki Tsunoda enjoys a winning head-to-head against Ricciardo this year, the reigning Champions appear to have a preference for the 8-time race winner.
As a result, Ricciardo is firmly in contention to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Christian Horner seems to be using Tsunoda as a benchmark to test other drivers against – rather than assessing the Japanese driver’s abilities individually.
In this regard, the British team principal has been waiting for Ricciardo to prove he deserves a top drive.
The last few rounds have been slightly more encouraging for the 34-year-old, who is performing at a higher level than when 2024 began.
With the summer break just days away, there will undoubtedly be intense negotiations and discussions about the future.
Red Bull in regular talks about the future
However, Ricciardo reveals that he’s already in frequent discussions with Red Bull about the future.
“Yeah, I mean, I still speak with Christian and Helmut on that side quite a lot,” he told the media in Belgium.
“And yeah, I mean, a lot still goes through them, honestly. So that’s that. I mean, other parts of the team?
“Not really, because obviously I’m here and I focus on this stuff here with my team and my engineers and everything. Obviously, last year I… I was inside the driver’s meetings.
“Like the post-session debriefs and asking all the engineers some questions and whatever, but clearly, that’s not the case now.
“But yeah, the Christian and Helmut side still, and it’s good to see them after a good result.
“Helmut still is – he’ll let you know when the result’s not good. But yeah, I definitely feel happy being back in that and under that kind of microscope, if you will.
“And in that environment with a little bit of that pressure, it’s fun.
“But yeah, that’s probably the best way I can answer it,” Ricciardo concluded.
The next few weeks could be definitive for Red Bull’s driver line-up, at least for the remainder of 2024.
With McLaren beginning to capitalise on their superior machinery, Christian Horner’s team are increasingly vulnerable in the Championship standings.
Max Verstappen is also aware that Lando Norris could become a threat in the drivers’ standings, hence his frustration with the team’s poor development.
In this context, Red Bull must decide whether Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda is the best option for leading the team.
