Red Bull picks a top replacement for Sergio Perez with a midseason switch likely.
Should Sergio Perez’s performances in the 2024 Formula 1 season not improve, Red Bull will look to bring AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo back into the factory team.
According to Lawrence Barretto, Red Bull won’t be afraid to fire Perez in the middle of the 2019 season. The 33-year-old faces tremendous pressure to maintain his commitment to the Milton Keynes team. Christian Horner, the team’s owner, is not yet considering a change.
After a disappointing season this year, Red Bull will give Perez a chance to change his luck.
With 223 points so far this year, he may be in second place in the drivers’ championship.
The 400 points held by teammate Max Verstappen are barely over half of the Mexican’s total.
In the event that Perez does not improve, Red Bull is ready to replace him.
Gains made by Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren have also brought their drivers’ positions relative to Perez in recent races.
Despite the fact that the Guadalajara native races one of the most dominant cars in Formula 1 history.
Verstappen is demonstrating the capabilities of Adrian Newey’s vehicle as well.
Red Bull will therefore try to bring Ricciardo back if Perez is unable to demonstrate that his issues this year were not an isolated incident. The 34-year-old has improved his standing with the team this season after serving as their reserve driver once more and then filling in mid-season and making deliveries at AlphaTauri.
In the event that Horner decides to alter Red Bull’s driver lineup for next season, Ricciardo is the team’s top choice to succeed Perez.
With Red Bull not opposed to letting Perez go before his contract expires at the end of the 2024 season, he might even play a part in another mid-season switch.
Due to his resurrected reputation, Ricciardo is at the top of Horner’s shortlist.
Between 2014 and 2018, Ricciardo won seven Grand Prix races for Red Bull after moving up from AlphaTauri while the team was still known as Toro Rosso.
The Australian’s time at McLaren in 2021 and 2022, after leaving Renault, was a complete failure despite his victory in the Italian GP in 2021.
Ricciardo lost his race seat for 2023 as a result of his inability to master how the McLaren handled on corner entry, where the Perth native excels. But he excelled in his races for AlphaTauri and demonstrated to Red Bull his merits as a reserve driver.
Following a Pirelli tyre test in July, Horner told F1’s website, “It was great to see Daniel hasn’t lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his sim sessions translate on track.”.
His performance in the tyre test was extremely competitive.
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Following surgery in August due to an injury, Ricciardo has only participated in two Grands Prix for AlphaTauri so far in 2023.
He crashed in FP2 of the Dutch GP while trying to avoid Oscar Piastri’s damaged McLaren, breaking his hand in the process.
However, Ricciardo’s performance in Belgium and Hungary guaranteed him a spot in the 2023 race.
