Daniel Ricciardo’s 2025 seat under threat as Helmut Marko claims RB will ‘soon have to put Liam Lawson’ into the car

Daniel Ricciardo has proved second best against Yuki Tsunoda in 2024.

Daniel Ricciardo’s 2025 seat under threat as Helmut Marko claims RB will ‘soon have to put Liam Lawson’ into the car

Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)

Red Bull Team Advisor, Helmut Marko has said that Daniel Ricciardo‘s 2025 seat at RB is under threat as a result of poor performances by the Australian. Ricciardo signed for RB (AlphaTauri) in the second half of the 2023 season but has been in unjustifiable form for the Red Bull sister team, especially in 2024.

Daniel Ricciardo suffered an unfortunate wrist injury during the practice sessions of the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix and had to be replaced by reserve driver, Liam Lawson. The 22-year-old, however, turned heads by putting in encouraging performances in just under five races.

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Helmut Marko and many others have hence backed Lawson to be the next choice for RB, which now appears to be a poised thought given Ricciardo’s underperforming nature on the grid. He has scored just nine points in ten races this season, compared to his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who has earned 19.

The shareholders have made it clear that it is a junior team and we have to act accordingly. The objective was for Ricciardo to be taken into account for Red Bull with exceptional performances. We will have to put in a young driver soon, and that would be Liam Lawson.
Helmut Marko explained to Kleine Zeitung

Helmut Marko stated that RB is a sister team of Red Bull and should act as a junior team, which includes nurturing young talents. The Austrian therefore clarified that Ricciardo has not been an exceptional driver, which makes Liam Lawson the most probable young talent on the grid for the revered RB seat.

RB feels upgrades are fooling them after Barcelona slump

Visa Cash App RB CEO, Peter Bayer has opened up on the poor performance of the team in Barcelona after an encouraging run of races. RB finished P15 and P19 after a disappointing afternoon for Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.

VCARB 01
VCARB 01 (via IMAGO)
The data are clear, they show that the upgrade works. However, the race engineers explained it to me like this: It's possible that these upgrades are fooling you. So, you think you've found a sweet spot for the car, but it's not actually where the car tells you it is.
Peter Bayer via Motorsport

RB came into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a new set of upgrades in hopes of betterment of pace and prowess. However, the race engineers went on to claim that the car did not respond well to the upgrades despite repeated tests and trials under different conditions.

Peter Bayer has asserted that RB has not been potent in locating the real issues which has been the major cause of their woes in Barcelona. Bayer further said that everyone on the team is now focused on working flat out to implement the upgrades in a better way along with the possibility of reverting to their previous specifications if the situation deems it necessary.

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