Perez is under increasing pressure as he experiences a mid-season slump.
After four podium appearances in the opening five races, the 34-year-old hasn’t finished in the top three since the Chinese Grand Prix.
He’s retired twice in the six events since; seventh in last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix was his best finish since Miami.
That run has seen him tumble to fifth in the drivers’ championship, just six points clear of Oscar Piastri, as Red Bull Racing comes under increasing pressure from a resurgent McLaren.
A report by German publication Auto Motor und Sport has now claimed that, should Perez’s form not improve, he could be axed despite recently inking a new deal.
With Ricciardo looking to have steadied the ship after a rough start to the season, that could open the door for the Australian to return to the senior Red Bull team.
The report cites “strict performance clauses” that apply to both drivers and quotes Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko saying “We’ll know more by the summer break.”
Speedcafe verified that report with sources at Red Bull Racing, who reinforced Marko’s comments, and that the point where a decision was necessary has not yet been reached.
Ricciardo has signalled a return to Red Bull Racing as his end goal for his F1 comeback.
That saw him placed at RB as a means to evaluate the now-35-year-old in a low-risk environment.
He is the only one of the four current Red Bull drivers on the grid without a contract for next year, with the team in no rush to secure his future.
Perez’s confirmation at Red Bull Racing for 2025 (with an option for 2026) appeared to close that door.
Despite that, Ricciardo’s ambition has not wavered.
RB has options for next season beyond the Aussie, with reserve driver Liam Lawson waiting in the wings for an opportunity.
That has heaped pressure on his Ricciardo given the Faenza team has historically been a breeding ground for young talent.
“In our universe, we have talent, we have a proper pyramid, I don’t think any other team has a pyramid like Red Bull with a junior team, so there is constant pressure from the bottom,” Peter Bayer, CEO at RB, said in a recent interview with PlanetF1.
“Young guys, they are racing and, after the race, they come back and they say ‘I won! Do we have a date?!’
“That’s something that we need to manage but, at the same time, we’re sort of the way in for the young talent because we do develop young drivers – at the same time, we have to be commercially successful and we need to be successful on track.
“That performance requirement hasn’t been as explicit in the past.
“It was basically Mr. [Dietrich] Mateschitz (late owner and founder of Red Bull GmbH) saying on juniors ‘If we want to change four times a season, we’ll change four times a season because that’s your job, you will get them those couple of runs in F1 and then we’ll see whether they can do it or not’.
“That has changed now. We still need to do that as part of our job, but we also need to be successful.”
Ricciardo finished ninth in Austria last weekend, his second points finish in three races as he cut a more confident figure in the paddock.
A continuation of that form could see him earn his place back at the senior team, should Perez fail to meet his performance objectives.
If that were to occur, it would turn the driver market on its head as Carlos Sainz mulls over his future.
Just three events remain before the F1 summer break, including this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
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