Red Bull is said to have Daniel Ricciardo as their “first choice” to upgrade Sergio Perez when the Mexican’s contract expires next season. Christian Horner has been frustrated with his driving force this season, who has struggled to adapt to Max Verstappen’s results.
Dutchman Verstappen has dominated the championship with thirteen wins in the first 16 races and finished on the podium once. Despite an equally dominant car, Perez has 8 podiums within reach and crashed at the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend.
Perez is one of 14 drivers whose contracts expire at the end of next season and plenty of moving activity is expected. Formula 1’s online website reported that Ricciardo was the driver chosen to upgrade Perez at Red Bull from 2025.
They claimed that Red Bull’s “preferred driver” to upgrade Perez if needed mid-season or at the end of the 2024 campaign, would be Ricciardo, with Liam Lawson then in a position to be recruited to upgrade the Australian at AlphaTauri.
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Ricciardo has been signed by Red Bull as a reserve driver after being sacked by McLaren last season. The Australian then recruited AlphaTauri and drew inspiration from his first three races before breaking his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix. Ricciardo enjoyed his years of maximum success. with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, winning seven races.
Perez has been under pressure in the drivers’ championship lately with six races remaining, while Lewis Hamilton is just 33 points behind. Horner has set his Red Bull driver’s goal of beating the seven-time world champion and achieving a one-two overall. .
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has refused to give assurances to Perez about his position at the team beyond his current contract. Confirming that Red Bull will be comparing other drivers next year, Horner said: “There are a lot of drivers you want to pay attention to.
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“Now, being Max’s teammate will never be easy and some drivers are possibly up to the challenge, others possibly won’t. But of course, apart from the drivers we have internally, we’re keeping an eye on everyone. “As you can imagine, there is some interest from certain quarters to drive a Red Bull car.
The Briton, however, helped Perez seal Red Bull history by completing a moment in the championship despite some questionable performances in recent weeks. Speaking to Sky Sports, the team boss said: “It’s something we’ve never realised about; I’ve never finished first or second with any of our riders in the world championship, so it would be very important for us to achieve that. It came close last year, it would be the most productive result in its history and it has the best result. car you ever had to be to verify and achieve that result.
“Japan is frustrating and complicated for him, but he will bounce back. I’m sure he’s got enough races left with the remaining six Grands Prix to get some wonderful effects between now and the end of the season. “