Daniel Ricciardo is confident his strong run of form recently has given him a boost in securing a seat at RB in F1 2025.
Ricciardo is under pressure to perform as Red Bull look to give Liam Lawson a full-time drive with RB next year.
There’s even suggestions that Ricciardo could be replaced after the summer break as a clause in Lawson’s contract means that if he’s not given a drive, he’s free to go elsewhere.
Ricciardo has responded with a run of solid performances.
The Austrian Grand Prix was arguably his best weekend to date as he out-performed teammate Yuki Tsunoda before converting it into a points finish.
RB arguably didn’t have the pace to finish in the top 10 at the Red Bull Ring as Ricciardo went on the defensive.
Speaking after the race, he said: “I feel like that’s three weeks in a row now where I’ve got most out of it. Still searching for a bit more perfection but yeah, three on the bounce. At least I can I say I swiped out of the paddock three weekends in a row now on a Sunday, feeling proud. Just got to keep that up.”
Ricciardo is adamant that his strong on-track results will help him convince Marko and sway his opinion.
“I’ve known obviously Helmut such a long time, and at the end of the day he doesn’t care about personality,” Ricciardo explained. “He goes about is the stopwatch and the classification. He’s a racer, and that’s all he really wants to see from us. “That can make him not think great about me to all of a sudden think great about me.
“I think this weekend’s helped. As I said, it’s a little bit more consistent now, so just keep it going and hopefully by the summer break he’s laying on a beach somewhere saying ‘Ricciardo, he’s still got it’.”
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) RB VCARB 01. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11,…
Ricciardo was pleased to beat both Alpines, which looked to be quicker this weekend.
“I don’t remember all the race. I need to probably watch it again to rate how happy I am, but I’m definitely more happy than sad,” Ricciardo concluded. “Obviously Haas outscored us, but we weren’t quick enough.
“I think also the Alpine was quicker, so to hang on… I think the team helped. We had the two hard tyres, we could pit a little bit earlier and capitalise on track position, so they pitted me at the right time and then I just had to watch the mirrors and try not to fuck up, basically!”