Helmut Marko leaves door open for ‘exciting’ Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo midseason

Helmut Marko gives his verdict on a possible mid-season sway between Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson.

Helmut Marko leaves door open for ‘exciting’ Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo midseason

Daniel Ricciardo‘s abysmal start to the 2024 Formula 1 season hasn’t gone unnoticed. The eight-time Grand Prix winner has been beaten in almost every competitive session by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. This has stirred up a lot of rumors about a possible mid-season switch between him and Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson.

Liam Lawson impressed the paddock during his short tenure in F1 after Daniel Ricciardo‘s crash during the practice session at Zandvoort last season. Recently, looking at the Australian’s current performances, Red Bull’s adviser Helmut Marko was asked about a possible switch between the pair.

YouTube video

FS Video
Of course, with Liam Lawson as reserve driver, we have a strong driver in the team who is contractually entitled to drive for another team if he does not get a seat with us in 2025. In this regard, it would, of course, be exciting for us if we could see him in Formula 1 this year – to get an even clearer picture. But this is a complex topic, and we have to see what happens next.

Helmut Marko during an interview with Kleine Zeitung

The 80-year-old added how Lawson is a very strong driver who should definitely be on the grid in 2025. Only time will tell whether the Kiwi will be able to obtain a seat with VCARB or somewhere else on the grid next season.

Helmut Marko shares an insight into Daniel Ricciardo’s chances of obtaining Red Bull drive

Since his comeback to F1 midway through the 2023 season Daniel Ricciardo has spoken multiple times about his want to obtain a Red Bull drive. The driver although this season has lacked in terms of performance in comparison to teammate Yuki Tsuonda and as of now doesn’t seem to be an option for Red Bull. During the same interview, Helmut Marko was asked about the Australian’s chances of obtaining the Red Bull seat.

Daniel Ricciardo and Helmut Marko
Daniel Ricciardo and Helmut Marko
The expectation was that he had to be clearly faster than Yuki if he wanted to have any hope of getting the seat at Red Bull, That hasn’t been the case so far, even if it was close [in Japan]. We’ll see how that develops.
Helmut Marko said.

From what it looks like, the No.3 seems to have underperformed from what was expected from him ahead of the season. Ricciardo will definitely want to get back into form if he hopes to obtain a seat with the Milton-Keyens-based team soon.

In case you missed it: