Daniel Ricciardo has been told he will be in 'good shape to challenge for Sergio Perez's seat' next year if he can prevent AlphaTauri from finishing last in the constructors' championship.
Ricciardo is back on the grid after joining AlphaTauri for the remainder of the season. The Australian has been Red Bull's third driver this season after parting ways with McLaren, but has now been loaned to their sister team AlphaTauri after Nyck de Vries was axed.
De Vries joined AlphaTauri after impressing in his F1 debut for Williams last year, finishing ninth at the Italian Grand Prix after Alex Albon could not race due to appendicitis. However, the Dutchman has struggled this year, failing to pick up a single point and he has now been released after just ten races.
And Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravitz believes Ricciardo now has a chance to try and persuade Red Bull he should partner Max Verstappen next season instead of Sergio Perez. "I would hope, knowing the quality of Daniel Ricciardo, that he would outpace Yuki Tsunoda just on experience and ability and I would expect him to score the odd point here and there," Kravitz said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
"But it probably won't be that many and he'll be lucky to end up consistently quicker than Tsunoda and showing himself to have saved AlphaTauri's season. If AlphaTauri finish last in the constructors that's a calamity.
"That is disastrous for Red Bull and if Ricciardo can save them from doing that, he's done the job that they want him to do and he'll be in good shape, potentially, to challenge for Checo Perez's seat in 2024."
Kravitz also believes Perez will be "pretty worried" about the move, having struggled for form recently after a strong start to the season. "I think it makes Sergio Perez check the terms of his contract to see if it's as leaky as Nyck de Vries' contract with Red Bull obviously was," he added.
"If he is amazing, then Checo will be pretty worried actually. Even though Checo brings a lot of sponsorship and there are a lot of merchandise opportunities, the selling of Red Bull stuff in Mexico to Mexican fans… he may well be worried if Red Bull decide to go the Ricciardo way if he turns out to be the man who turns AlphaTauri around."
And Red Bull chief Christian Horner will be watching Ricciardo's performances with interest, stating: "It is great to see Daniel hasn't lost any form while away from racing and that the strides he has been making in his SIM sessions translate on track.
"His times during the tyre test were extremely competitive. It was a very impressive drive and we are excited to see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel on loan at Scuderia AlphaTauri."
