Missed Apex podcast host Alex Vangeen believes that Red Bull should ditch Sergio Pérez and put Daniel Ricciardo into the car alongside Max Verstappen, reforming the team’s duo from Spain 2016 to the end of 2018.
Ricciardo has popped up on a few Red Bull TikTok videos already since returning to the Austrians as their development driver, with his popularity being used to promote the team through marketing campaigns.
Red Bull haven’t kept it a secret that Ricciardo will spend a lot of 2023 participating in marketing campaigns, with the team recognising his popularity in the likes of North America.
Apart from perhaps a tyre test here or there, the eight-time race winner will likely spend minimal time actually driving the RB19, with the bulk of his time set to be dedicated to simulator work and marketing.
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Ricciardo knew this would be case prior to returning to Red Bull, with the 33-year-old having desired a season away from racing, following the termination of his contract at McLaren.
Excluding his victory at Monza in 2021, Ricciardo’s two-year spell at the Woking-based team was highly disappointing, with the aim of his one-year hiatus being to rediscover his love for Formula 1.
Being back amongst Red Bull is the place he believes is best to do this, given that he claimed seven victories whilst racing for the side from 2014-2018.
Despite this, Vangeen believes Ricciardo should be doing more than just TikToks for the Austrians and is “too talented” to simply be on the side-lines.
He argued that Ricciardo is “far more talented” than Pérez and should take the Mexican’s place, with the belief that he’d “give Max a run for his money”
Many others have questioned if Ricciardo could replace Pérez should the current Red Bull number two fail to perform; however, the team have denied that the Aussie could be used as a replacement for Checo.
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“This is what @danielricciardo has been reduced to. He’s too talented to be doing this s***!” wrote Vangeen on Twitter
“Far more talented than Perez. At least when Dan was at Red Bull he could give max a run for his money.
“@redbullracing do the right thing & put him in the car.”