At this point, even the Racing Gods might find it hard to explain whatever it is that went wrong with Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie was in the form of his life during his last season with Red Bull in 2018. He would have turned out to be a proper title contender to Lewis Hamilton if it were not for his miserable run of reliability issues. However, he decided to leave the team at the end of the season and his career has taken a turn for the worse since then. After being dropped by McLaren due to his puzzling inability to understand the car, there was still some hope left for him as he returned to the Red Bull family. But now even that hope is fading away fast.

When Ricciardo took a sabbatical from F1 and decided to be the reserve driver for Red Bull Racing, people thought that he would return with a bang after a year or two. However, Red Bull’s lack of faith meant that the Honey badger had to step into the sister team, AlphaTauri (now Visa Cash App RB) mid-season in 2023 to replace de Vries, with a promise to become the replacement for Sergio Perez at the main team in 2025.

However, it now looks like he is more than likely to get the de Vries treatment himself with reserve driver, Liam Lawson, replacing him mid-season in 2024, who, let me remind you, left everyone impressed with his stand-in performances in 2023. In the recent episode of ‘Missed Apex Fomrula 1 Podcast’, Chris Stevens and Bradley Philpot joined the hosts in a discussion about the 2025 grid.

“I think, Ricciardo is probably not gonna last the season until something magical happens,” said Chris Stevens. “So Lawson might be in anyway. It might be Ricciardo who might have to make a case for himself.” The host chimed in saying, “I agree with the idea that Ricciardo is currently undeserving of the seat.“

“They [Racing Bulls] don’t want to be the Red Bull junior team anymore. But that being said, why is Ricciardo in that team?” Chris wondered. “Even if he were to end up back at Red Bull, I still don’t think he is the right person for that job anymore and we haven’t seen the Ricciardo of the Red Bull era ever since he left, and I don’t see him suddenly coming back. And for me, Lawson is a much more rightful owner of that seat frankly. He’s got a lot more potential.”

Having been under the Red Bull camp for over five years now, Liam Lawson is probably getting a little frustrated about staying on the sidelines.

Liam Lawson fires a warning at Red Bull for his future in F1

Currently serving as the reserve driver for Red Bull Racing in Formula 1, Liam Lawson is looking for a full-time racing seat for the 2025 season. Despite impressing during a five-race stint as a stand-in for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, where he secured two points in Singapore, Lawson was not selected for a race seat in 2024. This decision came as a disappointment for Lawson, especially after receiving positive feedback from Helmut Marko.

With the possibility of another year on the sidelines, Lawson has hinted about exploring options outside of Red Bull Racing if he cannot secure a full-time race seat with the team for the 2025 season. “Obviously for me, the dream is to drive with Red Bull, and I’ve been with them now for more than five years. They’re the most competitive team in Formula 1 right now, so if I could choose, I would drive for them,” The New Zealander told Fox Sports Australia.

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“But my dream is to be in Formula 1, and if it can’t be with them, then obviously, I need to try and make that happen with somebody else,” he added.

Can Red Bull afford to lose a driver of the caliber of Liam Lawson for someone like Daniel Ricciardo who has failed to impress in such a long time? What are your thoughts on the matter?

Japanese GP 2024: Struggling Daniel Ricciardo is Replaced by Ayumu Iwasa for FP1