There are currently three drivers in the Red Bull family whose careers are on the line. Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, and Yuki Tsunoda. As soon as the Aussie came back into the Red Bull camp, rumors started going around that he would become a possible replacement for Checo after his contract expires at the end of 2024. However, when Red Bull decided to replace Nyck de Vries with Ricciardo in the middle of the 2023 season, Yuki Tsunoda suddenly had a bigger threat looming on his head. According to Peter Windsor, one of their careers will be over by 2024. According to him, whoever beats the other will get to stay in Red Bull, and the other one is practically gone.

In recent conversations, Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner addressed rumors circling Sergio Perez’s seat beyond 2024. Although Horner explained that Checo is alongside Max Verstappen purely on merit, he also said that it’s his seat to lose. It was a clear hint at the fact that Red Bull is more than willing to put a new driver alongside Max. And who better to partner the Dutchman than his former teammate right? However, it might not be as simple as it looks.

Peter Windsor warns both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda for the upcoming season

Yuki Tsunoda has been with the Visa Cash App RB team (formerly AlphaTauri) for 3 years now. Although he has not been able to stand out purely based on his performance, Red Bull has continued to show faith in the Japanese driver. However, Ricciardo’s arrival at the team could spell big trouble for the 23-year-old. If he’s unable to match up to the level of the Aussie, Red Bull might have to rethink what they are gonna do with Tsunoda.

We have to keep in mind that Daniel Ricciardo is a proven race winner, with 8 victories under his belt for the Red Bull team. And when he left Red Bull at the end of 2018, he was in his prime. If it were not for the horrible season with 8 DNFs owing to mechanical failures, he would have been fighting for the title that year with eleven top-5 finishes and two 6th-place finishes. However, Ricciardo will have to make sure he doesn’t get beaten by Yuki Tsunoda, or his fairytale dream to return to Red Bull could be all but gone.

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Speaking on the Cameron F1 podcast, Peter Windsor shed light on this situation. “I’m interested in the Daniel Ricardo-Yuki sonoda square of because this is effectively, you know if Yuki doesn’t blow Daniel away I’d say his career’s probably gone, and equally if Daniel doesn’t blow Yuki away his career’s probably gone. So there’s a lot riding on those two,“ said Windsor.

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The rebranding of AlphaTauri under new leadership will perhaps also play a big role in deciding the fate of the two drivers beyond the 2024 season.

Windsor believes Ricciardo and Tsunoda will have a decent car to fight for their place

AlphaTauri has been rebranded as Visa Cash App RB for the 2024 Formula 1 season. Led by new team principal Laurent Mekies, this move marks a significant shift in the team’s dynamics. Design staff have relocated from Italy to Red Bull’s UK base, hinting at increased collaboration with the sister team. The two teams will also share the aerodynamic unit and designers, maximizing the utilization of off-the-shelf parts allowed by F1 regulations. We can expect to see a lot more similarity in car concepts between the two teams.

Recognizing this fact, Peter Windsor said that the two drivers will have a decent enough car underneath them. “I think that car will probably be quite good not because Christian Horner is playing a larger role… But because there’s some good people at AlpatTauri if we can still call them that and there’s a lot of technology there that they should be getting. So you know, I can’t imagine that car’s going to be slow so that’s one thing I’m looking forward to seeing that squaring off between the two drivers there.”

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Do you think Daniel Ricciardo will finally get back to square 1 at Red Bull? Share your thoughts in the comments below.