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F1 pundit Joe Saward claimed that Red Bull could replace Daniel Ricciardo in July if he fails to deliver in the next few races. The claim was contrary to what a Red Bull spokesperson said to Sportskeeda about Helmut Marko hinting at Liam Lawson replacing Ricciardo.
After Ricciardo left McLaren in 2022, he was re-hired by Red Bull as their reserve and simulator driver. The Australian had a massive chance to return to his former team as they dominated F1 with Max Verstappen. When Nyck de Vries was removed from Red Bull's B team, AlphaTauri, in the middle of the 2023 season, Ricciardo stepped in as the permanent driver.
In 2024, however, he has been struggling to keep up with other drivers in the midfield. After the first nine races, he is in 12th place with only nine points in the championship table. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda, on the other hand, is in 10th place with 19 points.
Since Red Bull was known for their frequent driver shuffles, rumors emerged that Ricciardo could be replaced by RB's (formerly AlphaTauri) reserve driver Liam Lawson. Lawson had a brilliant debut run in F1 when Ricciardo suffered an injury right after replacing Nyck de Vries.
On June 26, Helmut Marko told Kleine Zeitung that Red Bull shareholders want the RB team to be a junior team, training young talents. Hence, he said that the Austrian outfit could soon replace Ricciardo with Lawson. However, when Sportskeeda contacted Red Bull to further comment on it, one of the team's spokespersons clearly stated that both teams' driver lineups were not going to change in the foreseeable future.
“No change to driver line up for the foreseeable.”
Meanwhile, Joe Saward, a renowned F1 pundit, guessed on X (formerly Twitter) that Daniel Ricciardo could be replaced by Liam Lawson by the end of July. This was contradictory to what the Red Bull spokesperson claimed but was somewhat in line with what Marko said.
"So, Lawson will be in for Ricciardo at some point. I'd guess the end of July," Saward claims.
Sergio Perez's contract extension could result in Daniel Ricciardo's departure from RB, says Helmut Marko
Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko stated that Daniel Ricciardo could soon be replaced by Liam Lawson because of Sergio Perez's contract extension.
Speaking to Kleine Zeitung, Marko explained that the team's shareholders were insisting that RB be a young team that trains new drivers. Furthermore, he said that Daniel Ricciardo was aiming to be in the Red Bull seat. However, since Checo has now extended the contract, Marko said that the door is now closed for the Honey Badger.
He concluded that the Red Bull organization will have to put Liam Lawson in RB soon.
“The shareholders have made it clear that it is a junior team and we have to act accordingly. The goal was that [Ricciardo] would be considered for Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is no longer valid,” Marko said.
“We will have to put a young driver in there soon. That would be Liam Lawson,” he added.
