How Ricciardo is collateral damage for Red Bull as it contemplates 2026

Red Bull and RB’s decision to let Daniel Ricciardo go until the end of the season had nothing to do with the fact that his performance was so bad that it required immediate changes.

Head of the RB team, Laurent MekiesLast weekend he made it clear that if the Australian had the car he needed, like in the Miami sprint, his speed would still be up to par.

Instead, the move that triggered Ricciardo’s exit from Formula 1 and brought Liam Lawson back onto the grid had a lot to do with Red Bull’s need to think about its driver lineups for 2026.

If we rewind a little, we must remember that Ricciardo’s return to Belarus last year happened because Sergio Perez in the second half of 2023 it was lagging behind. But things didn’t start well when Ricciardo broke my wrist in Zandvoortwhich in turn opened the door for Lawson to impress over the course of five races.

Then, while Perez also didn’t have the best start to 2024, Ricciardo’s results also didn’t convince Red Bull that he would be an automatic upgrade if given the opportunity.

In Hungary and Belgium there was a short period when Ricciardo finds himself in the spotlight as Red Bull loses patience with Perezbut once the team committed to continue working with the Mexican, it marked the events that took place this week.

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Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

In the minds of Red Bull managers there is already headache, what to do with your drivers for 2026although theoretically both Max Verstappen and Checo Perez have a contract.

In fact, none of them are 100% insured. Verstappen could move to another team or leave Formula 1, while Perez needs to improve if he wants to keep his place. This means Red Bull can’t risk not having other options on the table if it needs to look for a Plan B.

First of all, They must, as always, keep an eye on other teams’ top talent. – Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has already said that George Russell could become one of his targets in the future.

But First of all, Red Bull needs to know who the best driver is in their current career.and the only way to get an answer is to force them to make a comparison right away.

With Ricciardo not a long-term option, Red Bull couldn’t wait until early 2025 to give Lawson a chance. Perez’s ups and downs have the team talking about his place next year and if things don’t improve by the end of the campaign, Red Bull will need to know who the best alternative will be if the need arises.

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Liam Lawson, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Photo: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

It is absolutely clear that Red Bull doesn’t believe Tsunoda is a trained racer partnering Verstappen but bringing Lawson in directly without giving him the opportunity to gain experience and demonstrate his potential would be a big risk.

Moreover, if Perez leaves and Lawson is not up to the task, Red Bull may be forced to seek a solution behind closed doors, as they did when they signed the Mexican driver.

For this reason, they need to see Lawson’s quality as quickly as possible to understand where he fits: can he quickly break into a top team or does he need more time to develop?

There is also a discussion about what to do with other young drivers. Isak Hajjar has done good work in Formula 2 and is knocking on the door of Formula 1, while Ayumu Iwasa has regularly finished on the podium in Super Formula.

As Red Bull sports adviser Helmut Marko explained, there is a bigger picture behind everything.

“Ricciardo is back with the possibility of a move to Red Bull if he performs adequately at RB,” he said. “But we have to look at this in a broader context. We have a lot of young riders. There is, for example, Hadjar, there is Lawson. There is also Iwasa. And we must look to the future.”

“And we also want to make comparisons: Where does Lawson stand compared to Yuki? Then, looking ahead, what will be the pairing of drivers for our two teams?” – he concluded.

In short, the change of drivers of the Republic of Belarus at the US Grand Prix is ​​connected not with the current results, but with what will happen in 18 months.

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