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Daniel Ricciardo has batted away suggestions he could be replaced at RB before the end of the current season.
Nine races remain in the campaign, including this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, with the Australian yet to ink a race deal for next year.
Meanwhile, Liam Lawson remains within the Red Bull ranks with a strong appetite from management to get the New Zealander seat time in 2024.
Ricciardo and Lawson were both heavily linked to Red Bull Racing in place of Sergio Perez before the Mexican was given a stay of execution following the Belgian Grand Prix.
However, a cloud remains over the 34-year-old as his team’s constructors’ championship advantage to McLaren was slashed by a further 12 points in Zandvoort last weekend.
Perez finished sixth in the Dutch GP, contributing six points – his best return since the Miami Grand Prix where he was fourth.
It’s thought his form, and therefore future, is entwined with both that of Ricciardo and Lawson, with the Australian the most vulnerable.
Following the Belgian Grand Prix, a theory within the paddock ran that should the eight-time race winner not be promoted, that he would instead lose his seat to Lawson.
Not only did he retain his seat but reports claimed he was safe until the end of the season.
That suggests a clause that ringfences him in the drive, given the calmness with which he dismissed speculation earlier in the year that he’d be ousted by Miami.
Asked again whether he was confident he’ll see out the year, Ricciardo was confident but pragmatic.
“Look, I say yes,” he asserted in Monza.
“I’ve been in this for long enough… who knows?”
“But I’ll keep going back; I will keep making it about me in the sense that, if I’m performing, they won’t find a reason to do anything. And ultimately that’s where I’ll leave it.
“I know if I perform then I’m good, so [I’ll] focus on myself, then it shouldn’t affect me.”
It is possible, however, that even with strong performances he could be forced out.
A clause in Lawson’s contract elapses in little more than two weeks, by which point Red Bull must have secured a race drive for him for 2024 or he becomes a free agent.
Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko stated clearly in the lead up to the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend that “He will be sitting in one of our cars next year,” in an interview with Kleine Zeitung.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner attempted to wind that statement back, claiming what Marko actually said “he’ll have a drive in Formula 1 next season,” and that, “we could rent him out.”
The only remaining race drives available outside Red Bull are Mercedes, which is almost certain to sign Kimi Antonelli, and alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber – to which Lawson has been linked.
With Ricciardo yet to ink a new deal for 2025, it leaves the Australian exposed should Red Bull opt to keep Lawson in-house.
By the time F1 reaches Singapore, Lawson should know his future, which could have a significant impact on Ricciardo’s short- and medium-term future.
