Wild Daniel Ricciardo contract clause rumour rocks F1

A stunning report has emerged exposing Red Bull’s planning – and it could result in the Aussie’s salary tripling next season.

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen... teammates again? Photos: AFP

The old saying states where there’s smoke, there’s fire and there is a whole lot of smoke linking Daniel Ricciardo to the world champion Red Bull team right now.

Ricciardo had a solid back half of the 2023 Formula 1 season with Red Bull support team AlphaTauri, helping it jump from last to eighth in the constructor’s championship.

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Aligned with the Australian’s return to form was the continuing slump of Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, who was unable to maintain a blistering start to the campaign.

With two wins in the opening four Grands Prix of the year, Perez loomed as a genuine threat to Max Verstappen’s crown.

The Dutchman would then dominate the remainder of the season, ripping off 10 and then seven-race win streaks to finish with a record 19 for the year, while Perez failed to record another victory.

The man known as “Checo” finished runner-up in the title race, but his 285 points for the year were less than half that of his Dutch teammate (575).

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen... teammates again? Photos: AFP

Contracted through the end of 2024, Perez is considered under real pressure heading into next season, with Ricciardo ready to pounce.

Veteran Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward is now reporting there are contractual plans in place at the frontrunning team if Perez’s struggles extend into the new season.

“The word is that Red Bull recently turned down a $1.2 billion offer for Scuderia AlphaTauri and now intends to use its second team to aim for a different segment of the F1 market,” Saward wrote in his latest column.

“Rumours suggest that the team will be renamed Racing Bulls (a name that was recently trademarked by Red Bull).

“The team’s livery that has been used in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi is likely to be the basis of the 2024 new look.

Sergio Perez finished a distant second behind Verstappen in this year’s title race. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

“And while the driver line-up in 2024 will be Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, informed sources suggest that there is a provision in Ricciardo’s contract for him to switch into Red Bull Racing after the early races next year if Sergio Perez does not up his game.

“I hear that if that happens Daniel’s salary will triple and Liam Lawson will come in to replace him.”

In terms of Ricciardo’s prospects going forward, the 34-year-old was recently quizzed about a possible reunion alongside former teammate Verstappen.

Cut adrift from F1 a year ago, Ricciardo resurrected his career with AlphaTauri and his close relationship with team boss Christian Horner is well documented.

The West Australian is overjoyed to be in the discussion to replace Perez coming off disappointing and potentially F1 career-ending stints with Renault and McLaren.

Ricciardo rediscovered his form with the back-up team in 2023. (Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

“I definitely don’t see it as pressure,” Ricciardo told reporters in Abu Dhabi last month ahead of the year’s final Grand Prix.

“I think 12 months ago, a lot of the … call it rumour lists, for lack of a better word, were normally negatively directed at me.

“So for me to be in a conversation again, whether it’s a rumour or not about ‘oh, could you be back in a Red Bull one day’, 12 months ago, 18 months ago, I never would have thought that would be a conversation.

”Even if it is just a rumour, I just didn’t think a rumour like that would exist.

“I think that just makes me smile. It gives me a lot of encouragement that just through the highs and the lows, the ups and downs, if you stay on the straight and narrow, crazy things can happen.”

Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo look good together, right? (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Ricciardo had both AlphaTauri’s best result of the year, a seventh in Mexico, plus a broken hand that dented his progress in a rollercoaster second half of the season.

A Red Bull return would clearly cap off that “fairytale”, but he’s grateful just to have a guaranteed drive with his current team next year.

“I think that’s really also just part of this kind of comeback and (my attitude to) this return is, I’m just going to give it all I’ve got and if something crazy happens, that’s really cool,” he said.

“I think I’ll take it in my stride and whatever, but I’m also not getting ahead of myself with that.

“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.

“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.”

Originally published as Wild Daniel Ricciardo contract clause rumour rocks F1