Helmut Marko tells one RB driver he must improve ‘soon’ compared to his teammate

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Red Bull director Helmut Marko has sent a stern warning to one Visa Cash App RB driver amid the battle between Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.

As head of Red Bull’s driver development programme, Marko wields a significant influence over the line-up of the junior team.

And that’s why his latest comments may make for worrying reading for one of the team’s drivers.

Ricciardo and Tsunoda are two races into their first full season together as teammates.

The Australian returned to the grid midway through last year when Marko and co. decided to axe Nyck de Vries.

It was a lifeline for Ricciardo, who had himself been dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022.

Both RB drivers will be aware of a potential vacancy at Red Bull as Sergio Perez approaches the end of his contract.

Equally, though, they are under pressure to deliver to keep their current drives, with Liam Lawson waiting in the wings.

The 22-year-old impressed in a five-race stand-in stint in 2023 when Ricciardo broke his hand.

Helmut Marko issues Daniel Ricciardo warning amid Yuki Tsunoda praise

Writing in his post-Saudi Arabian Grand Prix column for Speedweek, Marko hailed Tsunoda’s efforts in qualifying.

The Japanese driver reached Q3 in Jeddah and set the ninth-fastest time.

Ricciardo, by contrast, qualified down in 14th and was half a second slower than Tsunoda as he bowed out in Q2.

Marko has told the experienced Australian that he must find pace ‘soon’, having been out-qualified at each of the first two Grands Prix.

He wrote: “A word about the Racing Bulls. There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel.

“Yuki’s qualifying performance was very good and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”

Will Ricciardo replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull?

Prior to the start of the season, Ricciardo seemed a ‘dead-cert’ to return to Red Bull for 2025.

Even though he’d finished second in the 2023 championship behind Max Verstappen, Perez had struggled to extract the maximum from the most dominant car in F1 history.

Indeed, the margin between champion and runner-up (290 points) was the largest the sport had ever seen.

Perez, however, has started the season in solid fashion with back-to-back second-place finishes behind Verstappen.

And Ricciardo’s chances have already receded after a tricky start to the campaign.

He slumped to a 16th-place finish in Saudi Arabia and spun under no pressure late on in the race.

The 34-year-old will desperately hope for an improved showing when he heads to home race in Melbourne next weekend.