Ricciardo at Red Bull in 2025? “Everything is open” according to Horner

If Sergio Pérez saved his place for 2024 by securing the place of vice-world champion behind his teammate Max Verstappen, will the Mexican still be the teammate of the Dutch ogre in 2025? Despite this second place, his best career result, and the fact of having contributed to the first double achieved by Red Bull in the Drivers' championship, the results of Czech pales in comparison to his teammate's staggering statistics. After a good start to the season where he won two races in the first four Grands Prix, the former Force India resident finished 290 points behind the triple world champion.

The decline in his performances was particularly visible in qualifying, with a series of five events without an appearance in Q3 between Monaco and Silverstone and he no longer managed to achieve a victory after Baku (Azerbaijan), the fourth meeting of the year, while his garage neighbor finished the 2023 financial year with a record of 19 victories. An abysmal chasm which gave rise to rumors of a possible replacement for 2024, or even 2025. These notably led to a former teammate of Verstappen at Red Bull, a certain Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo: “Finishing my career as a Red Bull driver would be perfect”

The Australian, who initially lost his place on the grid, finally found a seat at Alpha Tauri following the eviction of Nyck de Vries. Injured his hand for a while after going off the track during Free Practice in Zandvoort (Netherlands), Ricciardo particularly stood out in Mexico with a 4th place on the grid and a 7th place at the checkered flag, his only finish in the points.

In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Christian Horner, the team principal of the world champion team, declared that the team composition for 2025 was still open while Pérez's contract will expire at the end of the 2024 season. As a team, you want to field the most competitive duo possible and you want the right dynamic, replied the British leader. Max and Checo make a good duo. Checo, in his three years with us, finished fourth, third then second, so he is on a good trajectory. Daniel is well known here, it's great to have him back in the Red Bull fold, and of course everything is open from 2025. Having options internally and externally is not a bad thing for We. »

Established at AlphaTauri for 2024 alongside Yuki tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo recently admitted that a possible return as a starter at Red Bull, where he rode between 2014 and 2018, did not leave him indifferent. “ I think coming back and being part of the Red Bull family again, testing in July, working with Simon again [Rennie, his engineer at the time at Red Bull], it really is the dream, he said on the Beyond The Grid podcast. Honestly, finishing my career as a Red Bull driver would be perfect. It's not that I'm considering the end, but if I go back, I'll definitely make sure I end there. »

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