Christian Horner has sent a clear message on Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull amid the looming threat of Daniel Ricciardo.
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Ricciardo has recently returned to the sport as a replacement for struggling Dutchman Nyck de Vries, having begun the year in a reserve capacity for Constructors’ Championship leaders Red Bull, mostly serving as a simulator driver and for marketing purposes.
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has struggled this season, and despite being contracted until the end of next season, has his place in the top team under heavy scrutiny at the moment, with the likes of Ricciardo openly gunning for his spot.
F1 QUALI WRAP: Big mistake costs Ricciardo; Piastri’s telling admission
Red Bull team boss Horner told the F1 Nation podcast that Perez was safe for the 2024 season, despite recent moves to elevate reserve driver Ricciardo to the grid with sister team AlphaTauri.
“Obviously our drivers are going to be Max (Verstappen) and Checo (Perez) next year,” Horner said.
However, he also clarified that Ricciardo aimed to take Perez’ seat via his performances in the feeder team.
“But it’s always good to have talent in reserve and I think Daniel … firmly wants to be pitching for that 2025 Red Bull seat,” he said.
“That’s his goal and objective, and by going to AlphaTauri, he sees that as his best route of stating his case for 2025.”
Perez has recently struggled to put the RB19 towards the front of the grid, with his P3 in Belgium his best result since a pole position in Miami back in May.
Ricciardo is currently without a race contract for 2024, and will be going on 36-years-old when Perez is out of contract at the end of next season.
If Ricciardo is not promoted to the senior team next year, and is instead forced to spend another year with the struggling AlphaTauri outfit while younger rivals such as Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris stake their claims for the top team’s second slot, it may spell doom for the popular Australian’s Formula One career.
The comments come as Ricciardo’s qualifying in Belgium came to a “frustrating” end in Q1, with a last-gasp time that put him sixth deleted after the fact for exceeding track limits, leaving him at the back of the grid.
Ricciardo took all four wheels of his AlphaTauri over the inside limits of the fast left-hander on the exit of the iconic Radillon d’Eau Rouge complex, the most thrilling corner on the calendar for many F1 drivers and the scene of the tragic 2020 accident that killed French rising star Anthoine Hubert.
“It’s frustrating of course,” Ricciardo said after the fact.
“I knew I basically tried to Eau Rouge flat. I thought it was possible and I just felt I was drifting off the good line and I had to lift to just stay on track and it was just drifting, drifting.
“As soon as I got over that turn four kerb where they said I did track limits, I knew it was probably over. Obviously I tried to put it behind me and keep going on with the lap … but in the end it’s frustrating when you (exceed) track limits and lose time.
“I felt comfortable enough and if given a chance in Q2 we could have kept chipping away at it. Disappointing outcome but I think we’ll work it out nicely.”
The Australian will line up on the grid in P19, a far cry from fellow Australian Oscar Piastri who will line up in P6 on Sunday after a barnstorming run in a much-improved McLaren during qualifying.
Piastri thrived in wet conditions in Belgium, and while the McLaren ran a high-downforce set up in similar fashion to the domineering Red Bulls, only Piastri was anywhere close to likely triple World Champion Max Verstappen through the demanding middle sector.
It shows Piastri’s ability when given the tools to succeed on fast, flowing circuits – a possible omen for his home Grand Prix in Melbourne into the future.
The Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 11pm AEST on Sunday 30 July.
