Daniel Ricciardo will remain with RB’s Formula 1 team past the 2024 summer break amid Red Bull’s choice to provide the under-pressure Sergio Perez with a reprieve.
Perez’s wretched streak – which has comprised 28 points across the last eight rounds – prompted Red Bull senior personnel to hold a meeting to evaluate his position.
But although its Constructors’ Championship lead has been eradicated to 42 points, Red Bull boss Christian Horner told team members that Perez will retain his seat.
The Mexican’s position remaining intact has meant that Ricciardo will not be granted the dream return to the parent Red Bull team that he has been aiming to achieve.
Ricciardo was viewed as the likeliest candidate to replace Perez should Red Bull have opted to make a mid-season change due to his previous experience in the team.
However, the Australian had been in the unprecedented situation where not receiving the promotion that he desired could have seen him dropped altogether this term.
Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, who deputised when Ricciardo was sidelined last season, is waiting in the wings to be given his permanent chance in the series.
With Yuki Tsunoda having signed a contract extension to remain with RB in 2025, Ricciardo’s position has been considered the one under threat should Lawson arrive.
But having endured a sluggish start to the current season, Ricciardo has delivered an upturn over recent weeks which saw him inherit a point in Belgium last weekend.
Red Bull has elected to not make a change to either team’s driver line-up at the summer shutdown, ensuring that Ricciardo will return alongside Tsunoda in Zandvoort.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week at Spa-Francorchamps, Ricciardo repeated that he would be content to remain with the rebranded Faenza-based team.
“Yeah, it does feel different, you know, and I think it’s easy to kind of rebrand it and say we’ve got a new look and with this and that, but your actions have to follow.
“And I think, you know, Laurent [Mekies], Peter [Bayer], Alan [Permane], a lot of guys that have come in have done that, you know.
“It’s not that what was happening in the past with Franz [Tost], in that example, wasn’t the right thing, but a change sometimes is good. You bring in new ideas.
“They’ve all spent time in other teams, organisations. And yeah, it’s just a new way of looking at things.
“And I think that in itself and their intentions and the way they go about it has made people kind of stand up and say, alright, this isn’t a junior team anymore.
“We’re making, kind of, big boy decisions and we’re taking risks and we’re setting targets and high targets and ones that we realistically think that we can attain.
“So, it’s cool. It’s cool to see it. I’m probably too, in a way, like honest in myself that if it felt like a junior team still, I wouldn’t feel comfortable here.
“I’m 35 now. So, I think I would feel a bit out of place. And I certainly don’t. So I think that’s also a good way to probably comprehend it.”
