Sergio Perez’s future with Red Bull might not be as certain as made out by the team, as advisor Dr Helmut Marko met with Daniel Ricciardo during the summer break.
Perez has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2024 and has previously received support from Marko and team principal Christian Horner.
Both have recently insisted that Perez’s deal will be honoured, but that drivers from outside the Red Bull family will be considered for 2025.
One of the drivers being considered for 2025 is reportedly Ricciardo, who’s expressed how keen he is to race for the Austrians again.
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Some have suggested that Ricciardo could replace Perez potentially even next season, which would only happen if the Mexican is given the boot by the Milton Keynes-based team.
That could be a real possibility, after Marko went against his previous comments and insisted that in F1 “nothing is 100 per cent certain”.
“Nothing is 100 per cent certain in Formula 1, there simply is no such thing,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung.
“There are always performance-related situations somewhere that need to be talked about. We’ll take a look at it and discuss how to proceed in Zandvoort, then we’ll know more.”
The 80-year-old met incredibly met Ricciardo for dinner in Graz during the summer break, something Marko believes was “logical”.
It appears that Red Bull have been very impressed by the eight-time race winner ever since he was loaned to sister team AlphaTauri, with Marko praising the Australian for providing the Faenza-based team with a “real jolt”.
Ricciardo’s presence at AlphaTauri has been a “real motivational injection” according to Marko, who’s high praise could suggest that Ricciardo is a real contender for Perez’s seat potentially even next season.
“That seemed logical when he is in Graz,” said Marko.
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“Daniel, has a very positive personality, a successful career and incredible experience.
“His drive and power have provided a real jolt to AlphaTauri. It was a real motivational injection.”
Considering he missed the opening 10 races of 2023, Ricciardo has done very well since replacing Nyck de Vries, with Yuki Tsunoda already being pushed more.