Daniel Ricciardo receives crushing blow from Red Bull over return chances

Daniel Ricciardo has been informed “he didn’t fulfil the criteria to be a Red Bull Racing driver” by the team’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko in a crushing blow to his hopes to return to his former team.

Ricciardo has made no secret of the fact he wishes to return to the Red Bull seat but a lacklustre start to 2024 meant that even with Sergio Perez under immense pressure, the Australian has not been given the nod to replace him.

Helmut Marko reveals doubts about Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull return

As to why Ricciardo was snubbed, Marko said the 35-year-old’s inability to beat Yuki Tsunoda suggested he was not ready for a return.

“Daniel was put in the car and if he would have been significantly faster than Yuki there was an idea to bring him back to Red Bull Racing,” Marko told ESPN . “But he also had this up and down. So, so far, he didn’t fulfil the criteria to be a Red Bull Racing driver.”

Red Bull have confirmed that Perez will stay beyond the summer break but the question of 2025 still remains. Right now, the three options appear to be Perez, Ricciardo or junior Liam Lawson but Marko hinted that the team were aiming to stick with the incumbent Mexican.

“We believe that we can turn it round and make it more stable for him,” Marko said. “To be teammate to Max is not the nicest thing in Formula 1. Checo has his merits, he’s won races.

“Our discussion was not just about drivers, it was regular discussions we had of what can we do to improve the situation? We have to try to make the car more easy to drive.

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“The more difficult the car is to drive, the more the difference to Max comes out because he’s such an outstanding talent. If the rear steps out he won’t lift the throttle, he’s just, ‘yeah, it’s a little bit nervous,’ Checo says ‘it’s difficult’ or ‘its undriveable.’

“So to be next to Max is a different story. So we said let’s try to make the car more easy to drive, get more balance, which is also something Max wants, and the best thing is to keep going with Checo and hope that he … the main problem was this up and down.

“He had some very good results, very good performances, then the next day he was half a second off Max or so.”

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