Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 future hanging by a thread amid two-race ultimatum

A report has left Aussie Daniel Ricciardo’s future in Formula One in doubt after his horror start to the season took a turn for the worst.

Daniel Ricciardo is facing the axe. Photo: Getty Images

Daniel Ricciardo has two races to save his F1 career with young gun Liam Lawson being groomed for his seat.

That is according to a report from the New Zealand Herald which claims the 34-year-old Aussie only has the next two races in Japan and China to turn his fortunes around.

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It shows how fast F1 can move on after Ricciardo was heavily hinted as the likely replacement in the Red Bull team if the defending constructors champions moved on from Sergio Perez.

But after three races where he has fallen 3-0 down in qualifying and 2-1 down in race results to teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the F1 veteran is now facing the chopping block.

Ricciardo has yet to score a point this season and has not made it to Q3 in qualifying.

Tsunoda on the other hand has six points thanks to Tsunoda’s seventh place finish in Australia.

The Herald report states that Red Bull’s head of driver development, Dr Helmut Marko, has given the Aussie just two more races to prove himself or Lawson will be in Ricciardo’s seat come Miami starting May 3.

“Should Ricciardo fail to improve over the next two Grand Prix in Japan and China respectively, Red Bull will perform a swap that sees Lawson likely installed in the Racing Bulls seat for Miami and remain with the team for the rest of the season,” the Herald report states.

Lawson could well have a rapid rise in the sport if he does replace Ricciardo, as the 22-year-old is seen as Red Bull’s best option to partner three-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Lawson impressed in 2023 when he had a taste of F1 after Ricciardo was sidelined with a broken hand.

Daniel Ricciardo is running out of time to save his F1 career. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Perez could still retain his position with Red Bull next season but he currently sits third in the standings but just five points off teammate Verstappen, and a point behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen left the race early at Melbourne Park after suffering a brake malfunction.

Ricciardo’s weekend in Australia was ruined in qualifying when his final flying lap in Q1 was deleted when he exceeded track limits.

After starting 18th on the grid, Ricciardo works his way up to 12th, although just 16 drivers finished the race.

Fans were quick to turn on Ricciardo after the race with senior editor at Maize & Blue Review Trevor McCue tweeting after the race: “The bigger statement is the Ricciardo experiment was essentially over before it began.

“He’s not getting the Red Bull seat and there is no point blocking Liam Lawson any longer.”

But the usually ruthless Marko gave Ricciardo an excuse for his Australian misery, putting at least some of the blame on the team.

“He’s struggling, we’ll have to see,” Marko said via Sky Germany.

“There were some good signs in the Bahrain test, but the last few races haven’t been going too well.

“I think Ricciardo needs a safe and confident car. I hope the team can give him that so he can at least be on par with Yuki.”

Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings. Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also gave Ricciardo some positives to take out of another pointless weekend.

“Obviously he had a tough weekend. It looked like he had pretty similar pace to Yuki in the race,” Horner said.

“Obviously he had a tough day yesterday getting that lap disallowed, so just wanted to give him a bit of encouragement.”

Asked if Ricciardo is in need of encouragement, Horner said: “He’s a big boy, he’ll pick himself up.

“F1 for a driver can be lonely so a bit of encouragement is never a bad thing.”

The start to the season has been shocking for Ricciardo, who was bullish on the team’s chances of pushing into the mid-field in 2024 after a promising performance in pre-season testing.

But it’s been anything but smooth sailing as Ricciardo remains among seven drivers who haven’t claimed a point this season.

“I didn’t expect to start the season like this,” he said. “Budapest last year, I drove the car a day before and then out-qualified Yuki and had a really strong race with no knowledge.

“Then having a full pre-season (this year) and all the races last year, I honestly thought that this year, we would start a lot stronger.

“I understand, not only me, but a few people are wondering why. The important thing is that I stay on course, not that my head is filled with nonsense or anything.

“I honestly feel good and just, unfortunately, the results haven’t made me feel awesome. But deep down behind the wheel, I feel good.”

Ricciardo also looked to the positives when speaking after the race, saying he had a few “nice moments”.

And he can still muster a smile. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

He went on to say: “I definitely believe I can do it. I wouldn’t say there’s any panic. I would’ve loved this season to have started better, but we’ll just keep digging.

“It’s not that we’ve changed everything and all of a sudden this car suits Yuki (Tsunoda) and doesn’t suit me. I certainly don’t feel it’s anything like that.

“I think we will find something. I thought it would’ve been this weekend. Maybe it’s next, and if it’s not the next, then we’ll keep going until it happens.

“It will happen.”

For Ricciardo’s sake, let’s hope it happens very quickly.

Originally published as Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 future hanging by a thread amid two-race ultimatum