DANIEL RICCIARDO ADDRESSES ULTIMATUM SPECULATION WITH RED BULL FUTURE ON THE LINE

Daniel Ricciardo is not giving up continuing with VCARB despite Helmut Marko again saying Red Bull have to “ensure” Liam Lawson is on the F1 2025 grid.

Rejoining the grid last season with Red Bull’s junior team, Ricciardo’s seat is under threat after the Aussie failed to produce the results Red Bull wanted from him in the hope, Marko says, that he could perhaps replace Sergio Perez at the senior team.

Daniel Ricciardo defiant in the face of Liam Lawson rumours

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

But with that all but off the cards as Red Bull have yet again backed the Mexican driver to rebound after a run of lacklustre results, Ricciardo may yet miss out on two drives as Marko wants to put Lawson into a 2025 F1 car.

He reiterated that to Sky Deutschland in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

“If Lawson is not in a Formula 1 car next year, we would lose him, meaning he would be free. So, we have to ensure he is in a Formula 1 car,” said the Red Bull motorsport advisor.

With Yuki Tsunoda already confirmed for the one VCARB seat, a promotion for Lawson from reserve driver to racer could spell the end of Ricciardo’s Formula 1 return.

The Honey Badger insists he’s not giving up, adamant if he performs well then Red Bull won’t have a reason to drop him.

“I will keep kind of making it about me in the sense that if I’m performing, they won’t find a reason to do anything,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com at Monza.

“And ultimately, that’s where I’ll leave it. I know if I perform, then I’m good. So if I focus on myself, then it shouldn’t affect me. And that’s what I’m focussing on.”

The F1 2024 VCARB team-mate head-to-head

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👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Daniel Ricciardo denies ‘unreasonable or unfair’ pressure from Helmut Marko

With Marko’s latest comments ringing in his ears, Ricciardo will line up on the Monza grid on Sunday trailing his team-mate Tsunoda by 12 points to 22.

Asked what Marko had been saying to him behind closed doors, the eight-time Grand Prix winner insisted the 81-year-old had not given him an ultimatum. After all, he knows what is required.

“Honestly, it’s like I haven’t had any, let’s say, unreasonable pressure,” Ricciardo said. “I haven’t had the hand on the shoulder pull me in the room and say, ‘Hey, do this or else’. But look, I also know that I know what’s required.

“So maybe this tough talk doesn’t need to be had because, again, I’ve known Helmut a long time in the system. So we all know what’s required.

“But has he been putting extra pressure on me or being unreasonable or unfair in anything? No, not at all.

“So I think probably what is being put out, maybe what he says in the media or something is a bit more heightened, but I don’t feel anything additional from him. I know what’s required.”

He added: “I think I’m probably used to it. But honestly, this [media session] is a lot of the time where I hear it.

“So when you’re young, you’re always a bit more curious, ‘Oh, what do people think of me or say’. But at some point, you realise that maybe now the weekends are getting busier.

“The sport is more busy, popular. There’s so much more being kind of said and thrown around that it’s also probably impossible just to keep up with everything.

“So, yeah, I think as well, and it’s not anything towards media or anything, but I have to focus on myself. And performance is everything.

“So it doesn’t really matter what someone is saying. What matters is what my hands and feet are doing in the cockpit and put all my energy into it.”

As for assurances from Red Bull that he’ll even see out this season, questions having been asked about that before the summer break, Ricciardo replied: “Yeah. I mean look, I say yes… I’ve been in this for now long enough, who knows.”

2024-08-30T10:55:14Z dg43tfdfdgfd