Daniel Ricciardo wants his Red Bull F1 seat, so will Sergio Perez sink or swim?
Already facing intense scrutiny in the wake of a woeful run of five consecutive races without starting inside the top-10, the heat on Perez has just been turned up a notch with the news that Ricciardo has immediately replaced the struggling 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nyck de Vries.
Looking beyond the simple explanation that Ricciardo secured his return on the basis of his, coupled wi🧸th de Vries’ downfall, there is reason to believe a bigger ploy is bubbling away beneath the surface.
Placing Ricciardo back at AlphaTauri is a smart move by Red Bull. The team now get to properly and fairly assess whethꦐer Ricciardo has overcome his McLaren hangover, w🅰hile the Australian’s presence keeps Perez on his toes, knowing a hungry driver with eight grand prix victories under his belt is waiting in the wings.
If both perform, as is surely the intended outcome, it will ultimately benefit both Red Bull and AlphaTauri. Failing that, it will provide Red Bull with a clear🦩er answer of which way to go in the future. However you slice it, Red Bull end up the winner.
De Vries’ sacking was the latest in a string of ruthless decisions made by Red Bull and acts as a ꦰreminder for Perez that the Milton Keynes outfit has not softened expectations, nor abandoned their cut-throat ꩲapproach to performance.
Although꧒ Red Bull have repeatedly stressed that Perez’s seat is safe for 2024, beyond that nothing is guaranteed.
Red Bull’s move only intensifies the pressure on Perez, who insisted at the British Grand Prix that he168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: “couldn’t care less” about ongoing speculat꧒ion about his future. One would imagine his stance has changed slightly now.
The scen🅺ario facing Perez is black-and-white. Up his game and he will retain his seat. Fail to live up t🍒o expectations and he could be in trouble.
Red Bull’s superiority and dominance in 2023 acts as something of a security blanket for Perez.♏ The team are well on course to w꧋in a second successive constructors’ championship, with Verstappen’s points haul alone sufficient to keep Red Bull on top.
It is also Perez’s c🎃urse. Verstappen’s success behind the wheel of the RB19, having taken eight wins from 10 races, underlines the strength of their 2023 challenger.
It paints a fairly damning picture for Perez that in the same car he has won j﷽ust twice, and only finished runner-up to Verstappen on two occaꦬsions. In five races, he has failed to even finish on the podium. Given Red Bull’s clear advantage, Perez should be doing much better in the machinery he has underneath him.
Perez will not be able to shake-off 🌊the scrutiny if he cannot turn around his performances, especially if Red Bull’s rivals emerge as more of a th🍸reat in 2024. That is ultimately when Perez’s below-par displays would become a serious issue.
There is also the Ricciardo factor to consider in this. He too needs to perform in order to have any chance of achieving his target of returning to the senior team, which he has been 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:very open about.
If Ricciardo cannot out-perform teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Yuki Tsunoda, that would only strengthen Tsunoda’s own claim for a berth at Red Bull, highlighting the impressive progressౠ he has made since his debut in 2021.&n🐻bsp;
Ricciardo will be Tsuno🎃da’s sternest test yet. It would be equally telling for Red Bull if Ricciardo were to demolish the Japanese driver - an outcome that would likely be career-defining in a detrimental way for the latter.
Back at Red Bull and Perez can no longer afford to relax. His honeymoon ꦿperiod is over. It is now 𒁃up to him to knuckle down and prove his worth to Red Bull, and there is no hiding place.
With his destiny still in his own hands, at least for the time bei🦋ng, Perez’s future hangs on the manner of his response.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for ltxcn.top around the world. Often reporting on𝓀 the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport꧅.
