Red Bull advisor chasing young British talent to replace Sergio Perez in blow for Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo’s prodigal return to Red Bull is looking unlikely with a promising British driver shaping up as the favourite to take the empty driver’s seat.
Daniel Ricciardo’s return to a permanent Red Bull drive appears more and more unlikely with chief adviser Helmut Marko detailing his desire for McLaren star Lando Norris to be Max Verstappen’s new teammate in the future.
Current Red Bull racer Sergio Perez has struggled in the RB19 and although he currently sits second in the F1 championship, the gap to his teammate has not gone unnoticed by the team’s head of driver development and adviser Marko.
Marko hasn’t been afraid to share his thoughts on Perez telling ServusTV the Mexican driver “is not consistent, he is not always focused”.
“Perez has a contract until 2024, and Norris has a contract until 2025. Unfortunately, it’s that long,” Helmut said in the interview.
“He [Norris] is definitely a candidate for us. At Toro Rosso, we had already reached an agreement with him at the time until his manager realised there was an option for a McLaren contract.
“In terms of youth and speed, he would suit us very well. Sergio, on the other hand, is already over 30 and is expecting his fourth child.
“So he also has other interests, so you have to see what happens next.”
Norris is sitting eighth in the championship with 79 points and two podium finishes, while Perez is second on 219 with two wins and eight podiums.
Crucially Norris has shown good pace and an ability to push onto the podium with the latest improvements at McLaren while he is also a close friend of Verstappen which should bode well for a harmonious garage if paired with the Dutch world champion.
Ricciardo has made no secret of his desire to reclaim a Red Bull seat, if not in 2024 then for 2025 once Perez’s contract has expired.
The Australian is currently out injured with a broken wrist, but had shown some promising signs in his two races with AlphaTauri.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner told media over the weekend Ricciardo was likely to miss the Singapore Grand Prix, with even the Japanese grand prix on September 22 a race against time.
That would leave Ricciardo with just six races from the Qatar grand prix on October 6 to prove himself and earn a permanent drive for 2024.
“I think certainly Singapore, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be ready for that,” Horner said during the Italian Grand Prix.
“And I think it will be optimistic for Japan.
“But I think his recovery is going well. He’s got mobility of the hand, he’s into rehabilitation now, but we’ve seen with motorcyclists, rushing comebacks can sometimes do more damage.
“So we just want to make sure he’s fully fit before he gets back in the car. I should think he’s pretty keen to be in the car in Suzuka. We just take it on a day by day basis and see how the recovery and nature takes its course.”
Originally published as Red Bull advisor chasing young British talent to replace Sergio Perez in blow for Daniel Ricciardo
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