Fresh concern for Daniel Ricciardo after VCARB ‘stinker’ leaves future in doubt

Amidst reports Red Bull will announce their full 2025 line-up after Singapore, David Croft is worried VCARB’s “stinker” weekend in Baku will not have helped Daniel Ricciardo’s cause.

Returning to the Red Bull fold last season as a reserve driver before being promoted to a race driver at VCARB, Ricciardo had hoped to regain his Red Bull Racing seat for a “dream” F1 ending.

David Croft: Red Bull or bust for Daniel Ricciardo

But as the weeks and months went by, that looked ever more unlikely as the Aussie failed to beat his VCARB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, never mind dominate him.

As such, Red Bull stuck with Perez, even giving him a two-year extension for 2025/26, leaving 35-year-old Ricciardo to ponder the end of his F1 career again.

The eight-time Grand Prix winner is up against Liam Lawson for the second VCARB seat, and Helmut Marko has made it clear that VCARB’s mandate is to blood the next generation of Red Bull drivers.

Ricciardo had hoped that he could secure the results that would override but, in what has been billed by some as his last audition, in Baku, he was only P13 on a disappointing weekend for the team.

“It’s the ultimate hero or zero for him – he either replaces Sergio Perez or he doesn’t drive in Formula 1,” F1 pundit Croft told Wide World of Sports . “You can’t get a more hero or zero than that.

“I don’t think it helped that RB [VCARB] had such a stinker at the weekend – it wasn’t a great race for them.

“I feel really sorry for Daniel. He is a tremendous talent who has excited and delighted us all for many years in Formula 1.

“But he made the wrong choice. He should never have left Red Bull in the first place.

“Red Bull are keen to promote Liam Lawson. They don’t want to leave him on the sidelines any longer than they have to and Tsunoda is doing well enough to get another drive.”

But while Ricciardo could take Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat, Marko admitting the team had hoped the Aussie would be a candidate for that, Ricciardo’s results have not been enough to suggest he could do a better job.

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“Sergio is the weak link,” Croft continued. “In terms of form at the moment, is Danny Ric driving well enough to replace Sergio Perez? It’s so hard to say.

“He’s not beating Yuki Tsunoda consistently, and Red Bull don’t think Yuki Tsunoda is good enough for the second seat of the main team.

“Logically, how do you then promote Danny Ric to that seat? Unless you’re doing it for reasons other than your form on the track?”

As such, it’s expected Red Bull will once again name Perez as Max Verstappen’s 2025 team-mate with VCARB putting Lawson in the car alongside Tsunoda.

According to Croft’s fellow Sky pundit Ted Kravitz, it is “going to be” Liam Lawson who takes the second VCARB seat while formula1uno reports the “option has now been taken up” on the Kiwi for F1 2025.

It’s even been suggested Lawson could replace Ricciardo before the season is over.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says the team’s decision will be revealed after Singapore but before Austin .

“The second [VCARB] driver will be announced after Singapore. Between Singapore and Austin. Not during the Texas weekend, but before,” Marko is quoted as saying by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com.

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