Is Daniel Ricciardo the perfect Max Verstappen ban replacement?

Earlier, I joked to colleagues that Daniel Ricciardo might be the perfect replacement for Red Bull if Max Verstappen gets banned.

But then I thought about it some more - and it started to make sense.

Verstappen stands at the cliff-edge of an F1 suspension, having accumulated 11 penalty points on his FIA super licence in less than 12 months.

How he reached that point, and the various details pertaining to when his situation will become less critical etc., is already well-trodden ground, but if the Dutchman earns one more over the Canadian or Austrian Grand Prix, he will spend a weekend on the sidelines.

That is a fate Helmut Marko called a "catastrophe" if it causes the four-time F1 drivers' champion to miss the trip to Red Bull's home race, at the appropriately named Red Bull Ring. 

In the eventuality Verstappen does have to miss a round of the season, there are a number of options available to Red Bull, ranging from temporarily promoting Isack Hadjar - or re-promoting Liam Lawson - with reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa (or Arvid Lindblad, super licence dependant) slotting in at Racing Bulls, to opting for an experienced driver from elsewhere.

The lattermost alternative is where the situation becomes more tricky, if the team feels that it is the best avenue to pursue.

Although someone like Valtteri Bottas, who is interested in a move to Red Bull for next season, would be a good choice, Mercedes is unlikely to relinquish the Finnish driver for the weekend, especially to race for a rival.

However, there are drivers not currently on any other team's books that Red Bull could call upon - and there are a couple it has previously been associated with.

This is the part where everyone's favourite Australian Formula 1 driver comes in (sorry, Oscar, it's not personal, but merely a figure of speech).

Why Daniel Ricciardo?

Sergio Perez would be a viable quick fix. The performances of Lawson and Tsunoda alongside Verstappen this year have shown the Mexican driver may not have been operating to as low a level at it appeared last term, despite the required results not being there.

But Ricciardo is a better solution to Red Bull's would-be immediate problem.

When the eight-time grand prix winner was handed Nyck de Vries' AlphaTauri seat mid-way through 2023, it was with a view to him potentially re-joining Red Bull at some point in the future.

That did not happen, in large part to the difficulties the 35-year-old faced upon returning from injury and subsequently being out-performed by Tsunoda through most of 2024.

The decision to put Lawson back in the RB was consequentially made and Ricciardo's F1 career came to an abrupt end after the Singapore Grand Prix.

However, if Red Bull is looking for a one-round replacement that can slot seamlessly into the team, not impact Racing Bulls in any way or disturb its future plans and young drivers, Ricciardo fits the bill.

Christian Horner is a known fan of the Australian and on what would naturally be a difficult weekend for the team, on account of its missing talisman, the fun-loving Ricciardo would be the best fit from a chemistry perspective - and there would be no long tail to however it pans out.

The most likely option is Hadjar, but as the calls for the 20-year-old to be permanently promoted to Red Bull intensify, so too have the calls for the young French driver to be protected from the seemingly universal fate that awaits all those who are placed alongside Verstappen.

But with Ricciardo, there would be no pressure or expectation on the side of either party. He is not the team's future, and thus would not be affected by a disaster of an event.

Plus, he is the only team-mate of Verstappen's who has ever been able to live with the volatile nature of Red Bull's cars.

Admittedly, that was during a previous generation, but judging on the form of Lawson and Tsunoda, the Milton Keynes team is likely not expecting a strong result - or even points - from whoever were to step into Verstappen's car for the round.

Then there is the added benefit that if it goes well, he could potentially be a longer-term, but temporary, solution to the second seat conundrum, whilst Hadjar would be allowed to continue to develop at a more sustainable pace and in a more suitable environment.

There is only upside to Ricciardo standing in for Verstappen. And it is essentially a free hit at seeing the outcome of a plan Horner and the team were never able to enact.

Not to mention, he would be a popular choice, for both fans and F1 itself - especially on a weekend when its star driver was missing.

But, Ricciardo would probably require some convincing, as he appears to have made peace with how his career drew to a close...

Who do you think should replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull if he is banned? Let us know by voting below in the latest poll by RacingNews365.