{"id":371450,"date":"2024-02-29T03:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T04:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=371450"},"modified":"2024-02-29T05:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T05:03:36","slug":"where-ricciardo-sits-in-multi-million-dollar-f1-silly-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=371450","title":{"rendered":"Where Ricciardo sits in multi-million dollar F1 silly season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first race of the 2024 season isn't even underway and there's plenty of intrigue into what next year's F1<\/a> grid will look like.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton<\/a> has fired the first shot, departing Mercedes<\/a> for Ferrari<\/a> leaving a vacancy at the Silver Arrows and Carlos Sainz<\/a> looking for a new job.<\/p>\n

Those are two absolutes at the moment, but there's movement expected elsewhere \u2013 results pending.<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> Australia vs New Zealand first Test, day one<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Fuming' Roosters hand ultimatum to $675k star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Walk in the park' as Matildas qualify for Paris<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Here's the state of play in the F1 driver market.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Ricciardo's future<\/h2>\n

At the pointy end, there could be change at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> could conceivably end up making a return. Max Verstappen<\/a> is a lock until 2028 but his teammate, Sergio Perez<\/a>, is in the final year of his current deal.<\/p>\n

The Mexican's future is murky and Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko has given Perez an ultimatum.<\/p>\n

"Perez still has a contract for 2024. It's up to him now," he told Servus TV.<\/p>\n

"If he drives in a similar form to the way he competed the last few races (of 2023), we can easily start talking about an extension."<\/p>\n

\"Sergio<\/p>\n

Perez is well aware of what's at stake.<\/p>\n

"There's always pressure in Formula 1. You have to remember we're at the pinnacle of the sport. There's always pressure," he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"You always have to deliver. At Red Bull, it certainly has changed a bit. There's a reason why lots of drivers haven't survived.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"The amount of pressure, the amount of focus on yourself, they don't measure the same, all the teams. I feel like how they measure at Red Bull is different to anyone else.<\/p>\n

"They just want me to perform," he added.<\/p>\n

"They know what I can do. They just want me to perform at my best. If I am able to do that, for sure, they will want me to stay."<\/p>\n

\"Ferrari's<\/p>\n

Ferrari and Mercedes<\/h2>\n

One certainty is Ferrari. They'll have Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in 2025. Leclerc is the bona fide No.1 driver there. The addition of Hamilton will certainly rock the boat.<\/p>\n

Behind them, there's intrigue surrounding Mercedes and who it will replace Hamilton with.<\/p>\n

George Russell will almost certainly become Mercedes' priority there, but who he's paired with remains unclear.<\/p>\n

One name continually doing the rounds is young Kimi Antonelli. The 17-year-old has already won two F4 titles, two F3 regional titles, and in 2024 will race in F2.<\/p>\n

It would be a bold move by Mercedes. The team has only had five drivers in the modern era and never taken on a rookie.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there's a lot of interest in Antonelli and there's great expectation for the Italian heading into the F2 season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Carlos Sainz<\/h2>\n

So what about Sainz? He'll almost certainly be picked up somewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given his father's association with Audi as a rally driver, there's an assumption among some that the Spaniard will join the soon-to-be-Audi-branded Sauber.<\/p>\n

Another theory, however, is that he lands at Mercedes \u2013 or at least pushed his case.<\/p>\n

"Everyone's got very excited because his dad, Carlos Sainz (Sr.), is with Audi and everyone just assumes he's going to Audi for 2026," said ex-F1 driver Karun Chandok for Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

"I just don't see why he wants to go there and I don't think he wants to go there. I think he will think about going there further down the line towards the later part of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"But Audi aren't going to win the championship in '26, '27 or probably '28 \u2013 they're not. For Sainz, by the time he goes to Audi, let's say they're a championship contender in 2029, he's going to be 38 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"This is the prime of his career. He cannot afford to waste it with a new start-up team. He needs to be doing everything he can to try get in that Mercedes seat."<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

RB<\/h2>\n

Ultimately, what happens at RB is dependent on what happens at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Either one of Ricciardo or teammate Yuki Tsunoda could graduate to Red Bull if Perez is dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assuming either of those two leave RB, then Liam Lawson is in pole position to fill any vacancy.<\/p>\n

Lawson starred for AlphaTauri in 2023 in his handful of cameo appearances as injury sub for Ricciardo, scoring points in his third race.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The rest<\/h2>\n

McLaren remains the only team going into 2025 with guaranteed stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are both off-contract at Alpine as are both drivers at Haas (Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg) and Sauber (Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu).<\/p>\n

There's no guarantee that the line-up at Aston Martin remains stable, although it's hard to see either Lance Stroll \u2013 the son of the team's owner \u2013 or Fernando Alonso leaving.<\/p>\n

Williams has locked Alex Albon's services in through 2025 while teammate Logan Sargeant is off-contract.<\/p>\n

Teams and their driver contracts<\/h2>\n

Red Bull<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.1 \u2013 Max Verstappen \u2013 Contracted until end of 2028<\/p>\n

No.11 \u2013 Sergio Perez \u2013 Contracted until end of 2024<\/p>\n

Mercedes<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.44 \u2013 Lewis Hamilton \u2013 With Mercedes in 2024, to Ferrari in 2025 on multi-year deal<\/p>\n

No.63 \u2013 George Russell \u2013 Contracted until end of 2025<\/p>\n

Ferrari<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.16 \u2013 Charles Leclerc \u2013 'Multi-year' contract<\/p>\n

No.55 \u2013 Carlos Sainz \u2013 Contracted until end of 2024<\/p>\n

McLaren<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.4 \u2013 Lando Norris \u2013 Multi-year contract<\/p>\n

No.81 \u2013 Oscar Piastri \u2013 Contracted until end of 2026<\/p>\n

Aston Martin<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.14 \u2013 Fernando Alonso \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

No.18 \u2013 Lance Stroll \u2013 Contract duration unknown<\/p>\n

Alpine<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.10 \u2013 Pierre Gasly \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

No.31 \u2013 Esteban Ocon \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.23 \u2013 Alex Albon \u2013 Contract until end of 2025<\/p>\n

No.2 \u2013 Logan Sargeant \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

Sauber<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.77 \u2013 Valtteri Bottas \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

No.24 \u2013 Zhou Guanyu \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

RB<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.3 \u2013 Daniel Ricciardo \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

No.22 \u2013 Yuki Tsunoda \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

Haas<\/strong><\/p>\n

No.20 \u2013 Kevin Magnussen \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

No.27 \u2013 Nico Hulkenberg \u2013 Contract until end of 2024<\/p>\n

2024 calendar<\/h2>\n

1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – February 29 \u2013 March 2<\/p>\n

2 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – March 7 \u2013 9<\/p>\n

3 – Australian Grand Prix – March 22 \u2013 24<\/p>\n

4 – Japanese Grand Prix – April 5 \u2013 7<\/p>\n

5 – Chinese Grand Prix – April 19 \u2013 21<\/p>\n

6 – Miami Grand Prix – May 3 \u2013 5<\/p>\n

7 – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – May 17 \u2013 19<\/p>\n

8 – Monaco Grand Prix – May 24 \u2013 26<\/p>\n

9 – Canadian Grand Prix – June 7 \u2013 9<\/p>\n

10 – Spanish Grand Prix- June 21 \u2013 23<\/p>\n

11 – Austrian Grand Prix – June 28 \u2013 30<\/p>\n

12 – British Grand Prix – July 5 \u2013 7<\/p>\n

13 – Hungarian Grand Prix – July 19 \u2013 21<\/p>\n

14 – Belgian Grand Prix – July 26 \u2013 28<\/p>\n

15 – Dutch Grand Prix – August 23 \u2013 25<\/p>\n

16 – Italian Grand Prix – August 30 \u2013 September 1<\/p>\n

17 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – September 13 \u2013 15<\/p>\n

18 – Singapore Grand Prix – September 20 \u2013 22<\/p>\n

19 – United States Grand Prix – October 18 \u2013 20<\/p>\n

20 – Mexico City Prix – October 25 \u2013 27<\/p>\n

21 – Brazilian Grand Prix – November 1 \u2013 3<\/p>\n

22 – Las Vegas Grand Prix – November 21 \u2013 23<\/p>\n

23 – Qatar Grand Prix – November 29 \u2013 December\u00a0 1<\/p>\n

24 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – December 6 \u2013 8<\/p>\n

How can I watch F1 in Australia?<\/h2>\n

Coverage of the F1 season is live and exclusive to Foxtel and Kayo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first race of the 2024 season isn't even underway and there's plenty of intrigue into what next year's F1 grid will look like. Lewis […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":371459,"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\/371450"}],"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=371450"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":371470,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371450\/revisions\/371470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/371459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=371450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=371450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=371450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}