{"id":342586,"date":"2023-10-29T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342586"},"modified":"2023-10-30T01:01:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:01:34","slug":"big-day-for-ricciardo-as-red-bull-rival-cops-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342586","title":{"rendered":"'Big day' for Ricciardo as Red Bull rival cops heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the gap between Red Bull<\/a> and its rival constructors narrows, a tough question is being openly asked.<\/p>\n

Can the Formula 1<\/a> team afford to keep Sergio Perez onboard into 2024?<\/p>\n

It comes after the Mexican driver crashed out of his home race<\/a> in just the first turn when he collided with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n

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The collision was deemed a racing incident and self-penalising after Perez dropped to the rear of the field before retiring with damage to his RB19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sergio<\/p>\n

Formula 1 driver turned commentator Martin Brundle believes Perez is vulnerable.<\/p>\n

As his three-time world champion teammate Max Verstappen streaks away in one of the most dominant cars of the modern era, Perez is fighting to hold onto second with a meagre 20-point gap over Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n

"I've been in these positions and it's horrible. I hate talking about other drivers like this, it's one of the worst aspects of the job we do, but that is the job we've got," said Brundle on Sky Sports F1.<\/p>\n

"Red Bull know that Mercedes and Ferrari and McLaren and co will be coming at them next year and they'll need two drivers on their best form.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Red Bull want him in the car. He wants to be in the car. Formula 1 needs him in the car \u2013 just look at this place, look at the crowd evaporating when there's still half a race to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Everybody wants that to work apart from a handful of racing drivers who fancy his seat. <\/p>\n

"But can Red Bull afford to take Sergio into next year if he's just not on form, if he's getting caught up in incidents, if he's struggling for pace? <\/p>\n

"He's still got a few more races to show."<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Perez's biggest threat to his seat is Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

The Australian out-qualified Perez at the Mexico City Grand Prix in just his second race since returning from a hand injury.<\/p>\n

Ricciardo went on to finish seventh, falling agonisingly short of sixth after a last lap battle with Mercedes' George Russell.<\/p>\n

"This is a big day out for Ricciardo to be hanging onto a works Mercedes-Benz," said Brundle in the heat of the battle.<\/p>\n

"Just the statement he needed to be making."<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Will Ricciardo dethrone Perez?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perez is contracted to Red Bull through to the end of 2024 while Ricciardo is contracted to race for AlphaTauri for another year.<\/p>\n

Red Bull's set-up means it's entirely possible that they switch the pair, although it would seem more likely that Perez is axed entirely with Liam Lawson waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n

It's thought that if Perez were to be axed, then Ricciardo would land the Red Bull drive and Lawson would graduate to the then vacant AlphaTauri seat.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/F1\/status\/1718767625398874166<\/a><\/p>\n

Brundle is optimistic, for Perez's sake, that doesn't transpire.<\/p>\n

"On balance, if I had to put money on it right now, I will say he'll be in the Red Bull next year and he'll be in this race next year in a Red Bull," he said of Perez.<\/p>\n

"That would be my position right now, but my goodness he needs some decent races in this last handful. We've got Brazil, Las Vegas, and then Abu Dhabi of course."<\/p>\n

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner gave Ricciardo a glowing endorsement but echoed the need for Perez to step up.<\/p>\n

"You couldn't fail to be impressed by Daniel this weekend," said Horner.<\/p>\n

"His qualifying was outstanding yesterday. He showed his maturity and experience and pace during the race. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

"I think \ufefffighting a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri for their best result of the year was a great performance. Had it not been for the red flag he might have finished further up.<\/p>\n

"Checo, we just need him to have a confidence-boosting result. He could have had it today but it wasn't to be.\ufeff Great to see Daniel looking like his old self."<\/p>\n

Speaking post-race, Ricciardo was elated with the result.<\/p>\n

"Good. Probably better than good. A lot of emotions. I think relieved is one as well," he said. <\/p>\n

"Two starts on this track\u2026 you hold your breath because it's such a long run to turn one and anything can happen into turn one.<\/p>\n

\"AlphaTauri<\/p>\n

"The first start we started fourth came through in fourth, so I was pretty happy. The second one, when I saw the red flag, I knew it was probably going to hurt our race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"We were in fifth and potentially could have finished there but of course, in that situation, you can't be too selfish. Kevin (Magnussen) had a big crash so I was happy he was okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Starting on the hard (compound tyre) with two cars (behind) on the medium, to just lose one spot was actually \u2013 I don't want to say best-case scenario, but close to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Then we just tried to settle into a rhythm. Lando (Norris) was much quicker. We were fourth for a couple of corners but then let him go.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"We thought if we could catch George we thought maybe it would bring George back to us. It did, on the last lap, I got close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"To fight a Mercedes at the end\u2026 it's been a big weekend for us. Six points\u2026 can't really be sad.<\/p>\n

"All in all, it's a good weekend. After last week, this is really the weekend I dreamed of and we go it."<\/p>\n

Sergio Perez's suffering in 2023\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Australian Grand Prix: \ufeffBombed out of Q1 after a technical fault caused him to lock up. Finished the race fifth.<\/p>\n

– Monaco Grand Prix:\ufeff Crashed out of Q1 after smashing the wall at St. Devote. Finished the race in 16th. <\/p>\n

– Spanish Grand Prix: Went off the track Q2 and failed to make it into Q3. Qualified 11th and finished the race in fourth.<\/p>\n

– Canadian Grand Prix: Failed to make Q3 after making contact with the wall. Qualified 12th and finished the race in sixth.<\/p>\n

– \ufeffAustrian Grand Prix: Track limits violations meant he failed to make Q3. Qualified 15th before coming through to third.<\/p>\n

– British Grand Prix: Fifth consecutive grand prix that he failed to make Q3. <\/p>\n

– Japanese Grand Prix: Made contact with Kevin Magnussen, causing terminal \ufeffdamage. <\/p>\n

– Qatar Grand Prix: Crashed out of the sprint race and only finished 10th in the grand prix.<\/p>\n

– Mexico City Grand Prix: Out-qualified by Daniel Ricciardo and clashed with Charles Leclerc causing terminal damage in first turn.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the gap between Red Bull and its rival constructors narrows, a tough question is being openly asked. Can the Formula 1 team afford to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342586"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=342586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342594,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342586\/revisions\/342594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/342588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=342586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=342586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=342586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}