The Australian hasn’t had the easiest of starts to the year and has played second fiddle to Yuki Tsunoda.

That has given oxygen to the rumour, which first emerged over the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

Red Bull is known to be brutal, even by F1 standards, when it comes to making bold decisions with its drivers.

Nyck de Vries was dumped midway through the 2023 season in favour of Ricciardo, and we’ve seen Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon swapped mid-season at the senior team.

With Liam Lawson, there is a viable alternative to Ricciardo waiting in the wings.

A tough start, an impatient organisation, and a ready replacement; there are enough pieces to give the rumour credibility.

Only it isn’t true.

Trusted sources within Red Bull Racing, which has an overarching contract with Ricciardo, denied the rumours outright when approached by Speedcafe.

While acknowledging there is pressure on Ricciardo and a good weekend – not just a good result – is needed, there’s no appetite or interest in changing. Conversations on the topic have not taken place, they confirmed.

That was reinforced by a senior source within RB who reaffirmed support for their Australian ace.

The team believes in Ricciardo and there is no desire to replace him. Quite the reverse, in fact, with the feedback out of the RB camp is that there is work needed on the car first.

“He’s struggling, we’ll have to see,” Red Bull’s motorsport boss Helmut Marko told Sky Germany after the Australian GP.

“There were some good signs in the Bahrain test, but the last few races haven’t been going too well.

“I think Ricciardo needs a safe and confident car. I hope the team can give him that so he can at least be on par with Yuki.”

Furthermore, Ricciardo’s management only heard the rumour for the first time on the grid when asked about it by Speedcafe.

There remains firm support for Ricciardo, including from Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner.

The 50-year-old made a point of going out of his way to speak with Ricciardo on the grid ahead of Sunday’s race.

“He’s had a had a tough weekend,” Horner said when asked about the exchange by Speedcafe.

“So just wanted to give him a bit of encouragement.

“He’s a big boy. He’ll pick himself up,” he added.

“F1 for a driver can be lonely, so a bit of encouragement is never a bad thing.”

And yet the rumour persists.

A report in the NZ Herald gave the rumour credibility as, after all, a New Zealand driver is in line to be promoted should a switch be made.

That article claims to ‘understand’ Lawson is poised to climb in the car as soon as Miami, though it’s difficult to understand where that belief comes.

Sources advise there has been no known contact from the Lawson camp to the NZ Herald, which raises questions about whether it has simply chosen to ‘understand’ rumours on social media and pass them off as news.

For now, all indications are Ricciardo is safe in RB and will remain in the car for the foreseeable future – with one exception.

Ayumu Iwasa will take the wheel of his car during Free Practice 1 for the Japanese Grand Prix as part of the mandatory young driver running.

Iwasa is part of the Red Bull driver programme, having raced in Formula 2 last year and is this year campaigning in Super Formula in his native Japan.

Ricciardo will, therefore, be sidelined for the first hour in Japan, with Tsunoda set to miss a session later in the year.