34-year-old driver is now the ‘leading candidate’ to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull

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Red Bull Racing have a big decision to make on Sergio Perez’s future and right now it seems like Daniel Ricciardo is getting closer and closer to replacing the Mexican.

Visa Cash App RB – already also known as V-CARB or simply RB – are in for a very big season as they strengthen their partnership with sister team Red Bull.

That could end up benefitting Daniel Ricciardo and speaking on the Autosport Podcast, journalist Matt Kew believes the Australian is the man who’s going to put the most pressure on Sergio Perez in 2024.

Everyone wants to be sitting in the fastest car on the grid and in 12 months there might be an opportunity to do just that.

Max Verstappen is tied down until 2028 and is in formidable form at the moment.

After winning 19 Grand Prix last year, he’s now got the unenviable task of trying to beat that record this year.

His success has put a lot of pressure on teammate Perez, especially after winning two of the first four races.

He looked like a genuine title contender before Verstappen turned it up a level and left Perez behind.

Perez will now be looking over his shoulder knowing Daniel Ricciardo is about to get a full season under his belt at RB.

Red Bull are getting closer to having to decide on 2025’s line-up and right now Ricciardo is the top candidate outside of the team at the moment.

There may be an interesting reason why the Australian didn’t replace the 34-year-old over the winter.

Red Bull’s engineers also really highly rate another driver outside the team’s set-up on the grid.

Ricciardo getting closer to Red Bull seat

Speaking about the situation, Kew said: “It’s very hard to envisage them [Sergio Perez and Red Bull] renewing terms with one another, so the bigger question mark is when will Perez go?

“Will he see it through to its expiry date at the end of this year, or will the chop come soon enough and day by day [Daniel] Ricciardo is increasingly the leading candidate because of his position and also because Leclerc and Norris have been taken off the market.

“And although everyone can be bought out for a price, those two look sort of more committed to their projects.

“So, it’s Ricciardo who has had his dalliances with Renault and McLaren and will come full circle, but he is there waiting in the wings.

“He was set certain parameters for the behind-closed-doors tests and simulator runs and he’s hit all of them and OK he was slightly derailed by the Zandvoort shunt which snapped his wrist.

“But he’s there, he’s a ready-made replacement who [Christian] Horner likes.”

Ricciardo may be closer to the Red Bull seat than ever before, but he still needs to perform this year.

Yuki Tsunoda had a great campaign in 2023 and will be putting his more experienced teammate under pressure.

There’s also Liam Lawson waiting in the wings and he’ll surely be a full-time Formula 1 driver in 2025.

Where that leaves Perez is up in the air, he’ll have offers across the grid, but ideally, he’ll want to still be driving in the quickest car on the grid next year.