Daniel Ricciardo’s shock F1 return will worry Sergio Perez, claims F1 pundit

Ted Kravitz believes that Daniel Ricciardo could pose a threat to Sergio Perez's seat at Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo’s shock F1 return will worry Sergio Perez, claims F1 pundit

Daniel Ricciardo (image via The Athletic), Sergio Perez (image via Sports Illustrated)

Daniel Ricciardo has joined the Alpha Tauri F1 team as a shock replacement to Nyck de Vries. The Australian driver will be racing for the Faenza-based team for the next round of the season in Hungary. Ricciardo was brought back to the Red Bull sister team after de Vries struggled to make a mark in his rookie season. Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz insisted that alarm bells might be ringing for Sergio Perez.

Perez has failed to get decent results in the last five races of the season with pressure building up on the Mexican driver. Sergio Perez has not qualified in the top 10 for five rounds in a row. Despite driving the fastest car on the grid. While Max Verstappen has won the last six consecutive races. As such, Ted Kravitz believed that if Daniel Ricciardo can turn things around for Alpha Tauri, then Checo’s seat at Red Bull could be in danger.

YouTube video

The F1 presenter mentioned that Perez would become cautious after seeing de Vries getting swiftly replaced by Ricciardo. Kravitz claimed that the Australian driver might be the perfect driver for Red Bull if Sergio Perez fails to perform. He said, “I think it makes Sergio Perez check the terms of his contract. To see if it’s as leaky as Nick de Vries’ contract with Red Bull obviously was. If he is amazing, then Checo will be pretty worried actually.”

FS Video

Discover: Who has led the most consecutive laps in F1?

Sponsorship not enough for Red Bull to retain Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo (image via The Sportrush)
Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo (image via The Sportrush)

Perez brings in millions of dollars of sponsorship money to Red Bull every season. However, Ted Kravitz was adamant that money would not be enough for Milton Keynes to continue with the Mexican driver if he fails to improve his dreadful performances if Ricciardo does indeed perform well at Alpha Tauri. He continued, “He [Sergio Perez] may well be worried. If Red Bull decide to go the Ricciardo way If he turns out to be the man who turns AlphaTauri around.”

Although, Kravitz mentioned that first Daniel Ricciardo needs to prove himself straightaway at the Hungarian GP. This would be an uphill task for the Australian driver as he will be driving one of the slowest cars on the grid without any testing mileage. Yet, for Ricciardo, it is now or never if he truly wants to take Sergio Perez‘s seat at Red Bull in the future.

Thus, Ted Kravitz has made it clear that Sergio Perez will be feeling the heat after Daniel Ricciardo’s return. The Australian driver needs to provide decent results that would make him the perfect driver to be Verstappen’s teammate. As such, Perez needs to step up his game as soon as possible to show the team that he is worthy of racing for the reigning world champions.

In case you missed it: