Ricciardo’s F1 Future Hangs in the Balance as Red Bull Delays Crucial Decision Post Baku Disappointment

Speculation intensifies in Baku over the future of Daniel Ricciardo in F1

RB faces a critical deadline to decide on their driver lineup

In Baku, further suggestions emerged that Daniel Ricciardo may be at risk of not securing his Formula 1 position for the 2025 season.

Just two empty seats are left to fill before the 2025 Formula 1 racing roster is finalized.

The only remaining decisions are regarding Ricciardo's position at Red Bull and a driver spot at Sauber.

During the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo faced another letdown, fueling rumors that Red Bull is preparing to introduce a new driver for their affiliated team in the upcoming season.

"Quite a disheartening day for them, truly a dismal day," Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports commented following the race.

Ricciardo was evidently eager and ready to go, positioned on the grid. He was only in 13th place.

Ricciardo competed against Pierre Gasly but was unable to secure a position in front of him, despite Gasly's last-minute stop to comply with the mandatory tire change. Gasly's pit stop, timed during the Virtual Safety Car period, left them trailing by 29 seconds. Clearly, it wasn't their best performance.

"Helmut Marko has stated that the announcement regarding who will join Yuki Tsunoda as his teammate at RB for the next year will come after the Singapore race."

"Marko has hinted that the decision between Ricciardo and Lawson will be revealed after Singapore."

"We believe Liam Lawson is the likely choice."

Last season, when Ricciardo was sidelined due to an injury, Lawson stepped in as his substitute and made a strong impression while racing for AlphaTauri.

However, Red Bull chose to keep Ricciardo on board with their affiliate team, and there was a possibility he could have taken Sergio Perez's spot had circumstances unfolded in another way.

Instead, Red Bull has renewed their confidence in Perez, putting Ricciardo's position on his current team at significant risk.

Ricciardo's lackluster performance in Baku

In Baku, Ricciardo commented, "It was a challenging race. The beginning seemed fine; those ahead on medium tires appeared to be having a hard time, allowing us to close the gap.

"I had the hard tire on and aimed to make the most of it by extending its use and searching for speed where possible.

Following several circuits, our tires experienced significant graining that intensified over 10 laps, resulting in a noticeable drop in our speed. While the team observed that other vehicles managed to overcome their tire graining issues, it was evident that it took us considerably more time to do the same.

Upon doing so, we managed to regain some momentum, yet we found ourselves significantly behind. The extent of graining I encountered was unprecedented, with lap times fluctuating by as much as four seconds.

"We must figure out the reason behind the prolonged graining. Moving forward, I'm really fond of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, so I'm optimistic about having a better performance there this weekend."

Tsunoda's race ended early due to an initial-lap crash with Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.

Team leader Laurent Mekies expressed, "This weekend didn't go as we had anticipated.

Yuki found himself in an unfortunate situation, being part of a crash right at the start of the race. Meanwhile, Daniel's speed was significantly hindered by severe tyre wear, which prevented him from competing for points.

"This is an exceptionally rare occurrence, and it's imperative that we delve deep to grasp why it impacted us significantly more than our rivals."

Regarding our performance over the weekend, it's clear we have much more work ahead of us. The enhancements we introduced have positively impacted our performance, which is encouraging.

"Nonetheless, simply reaching the level of our rivals and re-entering the battle for the top 10 positions falls short of what is necessary."

Teams in Faenza and Bicester are diligently striving to enhance every aspect of their work and to roll out new improvements shortly. We're eager to see if we can elevate our performance on the Singapore streets in the coming days.

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