Daniel Ricciardo photo sparks anger before getting deleted

An image capturing Daniel Ricciardo’s brutal reality has sparked anger with a cheeky joke hitting too close to home.

A photo depicting Daniel Ricciardo as a villain from iconic Christmas move Home Alone has sparked anger from fans.

The photoshopped image was first posted by the official account for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and began circulating across the internet.

It has been deleted after first being published on Wednesday.

It prompted scorn from fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, and the official F1 Reddit group where commentators described it as “inappropriate”.

The caricature surrounding the awkward game of musical chairs Red Bull is set to play in 2024 hit a little too close to home for some.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix social media account is notoriously cheeky and has previously been praised for it’s light-hearted gags — but it appears this one may have crossed the line.

The photo portrays Ricciardo and Red Bull principal Christian Horner as the “wet bandits” coming to rob Sergio Perez’s seat alongside the caption: “Is Checo’s seat safe this holiday season?”

The Mexican racer is heading into 2024 under more pressure than any other driver with Ricciardo and half the grid hoping to take his position as Max Verstappen’s teammate on the all-conquering world champion team.

Ricciardo has made no secret of the fact he wants to drive for Red Bull in 2025. His deal with AlphaTauri expires at the end of 2024, however it comes with a series of contract clauses.

The post has been deleted. Photo: Twitter, @abudhabigp.

Perez’s contract with Red Bull expires at the end of 2024 — however, rumours have continued to swirl that the team could drop the axe if he is unable to reproduce the results he achieved early in 2023 before his season fell off the tracks in the second half of the year.

Perez finished second in the championship this year, but finished 290 points behind Verstappen.

Horner has repeatedly spoken glowingly of Ricciardo as the apparent front-runner for the second Red Bull seat — if Perez is dropped.

However, the team boss has also mentioned AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Kiwi Liam Lawson as other options.

Horner and Ricciardo’s motorsport romance was all too easy for the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Twitter account to make fun of.

Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo pose for a photo in Las Vegas. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA.

The image also paints Perez as the Kevin McCallister character portrayed by Macaulay Culkin in the hit film — in which two bandits attempt to rob the house of a kid stuck at home by himself at Christmas.

The gag image was shared at a topical time — on the same day the official Formula 1 website also reported on Red Bull’s predicament. “As a team, you want to field the most competitive pairing that you can have, and you want the right dynamic in the team,” Horner said.

“Max and Checo have been a tremendously successful pairing. Checo, in his three years with us, has finished fourth, third and second so he’s on a good trajectory. Daniel is well known to us – it’s great to have him back in the Red Bull fold – and of course everything is open for 2025 onwards.

Sergio Perez needs to concoct some booby traps. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images.

“For us, to have options internally and also externally is no bad place to be.”

Ricciardo said last month finishing his career in the senior Red Bull team would be a “fairytale”

“I’ve said that would be a fairytale kind of way to finish my career, as a Red Bull driver, but I still use the word ‘fairytale’ because I know that it’s certainly not even close to being guaranteed or anything,” he said.

“I just want to kick some butt here. Very happy I’ve got a seat next year, I’m very happy that they signed me when I was on the sideline crying about my hand.

“Ultimately just happy to be back in the family and even if it’s not the big team, I’m just in a very happy place being here.”