Disgruntled Marko does not rule out replacing Ricciardo

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has not ruled out replacing Daniel Ricciardo with reserve driver Liam Lawson, should the Australian driver fail to overturn his disappointing start to the season.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Ricciardo outlined his intention to complete a return to the front-running Red Bull squad after his initial departure in 2018.

However, to-date, the ex-Red Bull driver has failed to deliver for RB and has been comfortably second-best to Yuki Tsunoda.

Unsurprisingly, his slow start to the season has led to several rumours regarding his future - however the 34-year-old calmed the situation ahead of the race weekend in China.

'Complex situation'

Despite this, Marko has added fuel to the fire by conceding that Ricciardo is not performing as expected and is not doing enough for Sergio Perez's Red Bull seat.

Furthermore, the 80-year-old has even suggested that promoting Lawson before the end of the current campaign would benefit the Milton Keynes-based side, as the New Zealander is free to leave if Red Bull do not offer him a 2025 seat.

"The demand on Daniel was that he had to be clearly faster than Yuki if he wanted to have any hope of the Red Bull seat," Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

"That has not been the case so far, even if sometimes it has been close. We will see how that situation develops.

“In Lawson we have a strong reserve driver who is contractually entitled to drive for another team if he does not get a seat with us in 2025.

"In that respect, of course it would be nice for us if we could see him in Formula 1 this year. That way we would get an even clearer picture. But it's a complex subject, so we have to wait and see how things progress."