Helmut Marko has shown that Daniel Ricciardo wants to be “significantly quicker” than Yuki Tsunoda to regain a seat at Red Bull next season, admitting that “so far that has not been the case”.
Ricciardo struggled in the early races to adapt to Tsunoda’s pace and, despite innovations after a chassis replacement in China, his impeccable retirement after being sent off by Lance Stroll means he is still trouble-free this season.
Ricciardo, Tsunoda and current seat holder Sergio Perez are all looking to reclaim their partnership with Max Verstappen next season, although Perez’s strong start to the year has made him the favourite to retain his spot at Red Bull for the time being, along with the team principal. Christian Horner has maintained that education is his.
But in the war within the RB team, Tsunoda is the one who has had the upper hand so far, and Red Bull motorsport adviser Marko says he no longer has the same temperament as he once did.
“Yuki has had a wonderful start to the season and is no longer the favourite he once was,” Marko told Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
“There have only been a few races, so we can’t say much yet. But he’s got Daniel under control, even if everything is shut down in Japan.
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Asked if he expected more from Ricciardo so far this season, Marko replied: “We expected him to be obviously quicker than Yuki if he wanted to have any hope of getting a place at Red Bull.
“That hasn’t been the case so far, although, as I said, it’s close. We’ll see how it plays out. “
Ricciardo himself is furious about his exit from the Chinese Grand Prix following Stroll’s crash last weekend, and team principal Horner explained ahead of the weekend what he needed to do to get into the frame and regain his position in the senior team. .
“Well, a lot of this is in Daniel’s hands,” Horner said in China.
“He was allowed to show the kind of form that gets attention not only to highlight us, but also potentially to make others notice, and we’re only in race five. “
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