Daniel Ricciardo explains Helmut Marko’s requirements as he fights to save his RB seat

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Daniel Ricciardo’s aims may have shifted over the course of 2024, as he fights to keep his Formula 1 career on the straight and narrow.

His early season performances had him at threat of losing his Visa Cash App RB seat if he continued his poor run, but things have picked up recently and his name has started to be linked with a Red Bull seat again.

But that doesn’t mean that Ricciardo’s guaranteed a spot on the grid for 2025, with Liam Lawson promised a seat on the grid and Red Bull’s options for fulfilling that promise dwindling by the week.

It’s a three horse race for two seats within their stable, with Sergio Perez also vulnerable of losing his seat if he fails to raise his performance levels in the final eight races of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo explains Helmut Marko’s requirements for an F1 seat

At the start of the season, Ricciardo was considered to be an early candidate to take Perez’s Red Bull drive for 2025, but he failed to deliver the blistering pace and consistency that was expected of him.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda impressed more, but he has since managed to make inroads and has begun to show him up on some occasions, but that hasn’t stopped critics from doubting his position in Formula 1.

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“If I’m performing they won’t find a reason to do anything. If I perform, I’m good,” he told RacingNews365. “If I focus on myself it shouldn’t affect me. It doesn’t matter what someone is saying. It matters what my hands and feet are doing in the cockpit.

“I haven’t had any unreasonable pressure. I haven’t had a hand on the shoulder pulling me into a room to say, ‘Do this, or else…’

“But I know what’s required. Maybe the tough talk doesn’t need to happen. I’ve known Helmut a long time. We all know what is required. Has he put extra pressure on me or been unreasonable? No. I don’t feel anything additional from it. But I know what’s required.”

Where is Ricciardo most likely to be in 2025?

VCARB’s pace has tailed off in recent times, with just one point in their last three races, picked up by Ricciardo at the Belgian Grand Prix before the summer break.

Haas are just six points behind in the fight for sixth in the constructors’ championship and have been far more consistent lately.

It’s very likely that the Faenza based outfit will need to score more points in order to fend off their American rivals and secure extra prize money.

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If they fail to do so, Ricciardo’s position within the team could be at threat, with Tsunoda under contract for the future and Lawson in need of a pathway into Formula 1.

Of course, Perez could be in danger at Red Bull too, but it’s a lot easier to remove someone who is no longer under contract, than figure out a way to remove a driver who is obliged to drive for the team.