Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson will make a head-to-head comparison behind the wheel of a VCARB, while Red Bull enjoys a day of running at Imola.
The two drivers are strongly connected to Red Bull’s second seat, with the Milton Keynes-based team taking the initiative to knock Sergio Perez down or demote him from his seat during the second part of the season.
PlanetF1. com understands that Sergio Perez’s situation is critical: the Mexican driver only has the weekend of the Belgium Grand Prix left to save his driving with Red Bull after a series of bad weekends in which he scored only 21 points in seven races.
With McLaren temporarily excluding Red Bull from the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull’s characteristics come with demoting Perez or, more likely, separating tactics altogether, to leave Liam Lawson or Daniel Ricciardo in the second seat.
While Perez continues to favour Red Bull at the start of the Spa weekend, the Mexican’s functionality is being assessed unlike Max Verstappen, rather than being entirely dependent on his final result in the race.
If Perez fails, the second option is to reposition the driver, with Red Bull unsure whether to put VCARB driver and race winner Daniel Ricciardo in the seat after many years of more questionable results, or give the chance to a promising reserve driver. Liam Lawson – the Kiwi who inspired a run as a super-substitute to the injured Ricciardo last season.
PlanetF1. com now understands that Red Bull will use the last available filming day for any of its teams, with VCARB set to welcome Lawson and Ricciardo for a day of filming the wheel of the existing VCARB01, with a view to tracking the expected that Yuki Tsunoda also participates, although the Japanese driver does not seem to be in the fight for promotion to the senior team.
The filming day will take place on Wednesday 31 July, and the team will have a race day with an old AlphaTauri AT03 on Thursday 1 August, as previous motor vehicle testing (TPC) allows. Ayumu Iwasa will also have the chance to drive to give The Formula 2 driver could be behind the wheel of a relatively new F1 car.
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On the outings, Ricciardo will sign for Lawson for the benchmark opportunity following the latter’s recent day of filming for the main Red Bull team while driving the RB20 at Silverstone following the British Grand Prix.
It is understood that speed alone is not possibly which of the two will be Red Bull’s preference if the team opts for the change, with adulthood and intellectual strength also considered a key factor.
With the Mexico City Grand Prix approaching, the option of an F1 grid without Perez may create a tense atmosphere for his replacement, with considerations over how any of them could cope with the discomfort of such a weekend.
With Lawson seen as a strong contender for the burgeoning Audi team, which has yet to announce the identity of Nico Hulkenberg’s long-term teammate, the New Zealander’s contract scenario with Red Bull allows him to leave later this year if he doesn’t get a seat in the race. with one of the two Red Bull teams, and VCARB team boss Laurent Mekies said they were keen to keep Lawson “warm and happy” as the threat of him being taken by another team mounts.
“It’s a very privileged situation, because you don’t have the next man [Lawson] in a position to go,” he told the media, adding PlanetF1. com, at Spa on Thursday.
“And in this case you know they are in a position to pass – they ran five races with this team last year and they have absolutely gelled with us since the start of the season.
“He does all the simulation work, adding race assistance. So it’s smart to know that you’re in a position to do it. Of course, for the drivers it’s frustrating not to be in the car.
“He drove the Red Bull a few weeks ago and will drive our car next week in testing. There are many opportunities, but we try to keep him warm and happy.
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