Red Bull’s Liam Lawson claims Daniel Ricciardo is ‘expected to step it up’ to save his F1 seat  

Daniel Ricciardo has proved second best to Yuki Tsunoda during the ongoing 2024 F1 season.

Red Bull’s Liam Lawson claims Daniel Ricciardo is ‘expected to step it up’ to save his F1 seat  

Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: Imago)

Last year, during the second half of the season, Liam Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo in AlphaTauri(VCARB) as the Australian broke his hand in a crash in Zandvoort. In the last five races, Lawson demonstrated his worth and earned team points that Ricciardo was unable to.

Despite having more points than Yuki Tsunoda and better performances than Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson didn’t get a seat for the ongoing campaign. That definitely, left some bitter taste for the New Zealander. Liam Lawson is currently a reserve driver for Red Bull and has cautioned Ricciardo, that he could replace him in the near future.

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Ricciardo has fallen behind his teammate this season, and the New Zealander believes he needs to step up his game. While speaking to the media regarding the same, Lawson said,

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I think Daniel knows that the potential is there, but I’m sure he’s probably expected to step it up.
Liam Lawson said in an interview with Fox Sports

During 2023, the honey badger was the reserved driver for Red Bull, Nyck de Vries failed to bring in the results for AlphaTauri(VCARB), and thus, Ricciardo replaced him mid-season. Red Bull is known for being picky about their drivers, if Ricciardo fails to bring in the results this year, the danger of losing his seat looms over him as well.

Alan Jones feels Daniel Ricciardo is past his prime 

Since the beginning of the season, Daniel Ricciardo has been seen struggling in his VCARB01. There was also some rift between him and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda during the Bahrain GP. Ricciardo was asked to take over from Tsunoda, to bring some points to the team. The 23-year-old was not happy at all with the decision but was forced to oblige. Ricciardo failed to bring the results causing more tension.

Daniel Ricciardo and Alan Jones
Daniel Ricciardo and Alan Jones (Via: Imago)

The 34-year-old is struggling to get on top of the VCARB01, but he has to pull it together to show the team that he can still put an F1 car through the absolute wringer. The 1980 world champion, Alan Jones, believes that perhaps it’s too late for the Australian and he has run out of luck. Jones told the media, 

I hate to say it, but I think we have seen the best days [from Ricciardo]. He has had his bum in a few decent cars, irrespective of what people say. The Alpine or the McLaren, the car that he is in right now… at the end of the day he has got to start beating his team-mate for a start.
Alan Jones said: Herald Sun

Daniel Ricciardo is in a tough position and Jones believes he must outperform his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, for Red Bull to consider him as a worthy option for 2025. Whether it’s bad luck or the car, Ricciardo needs to bring in results to secure a long-term stay in the sport.

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