Daniel Ricciardo insists he is not thinking about a potential Red Bull return in 2025 and that his full focus is just on driving for RB.
The Australian is partnering Yuki Tsunoda at RB in 2024, with both drivers having aspirations of taking Sergio Perez's Red Bull seat for 2025 alongside Max Verstappen.
Perez has started the season well with a pair of second-place finishes to the World Champion in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as RB is yet to score a point.
In Bahrain, intra-team relations appeared to boil over when Tsunoda took exception to being ordered to let Ricciardo past late on to attack Kevin Magnussen for 12th, although the team quickly soothed the issue post-race.
When presented with the idea that the lure of a Red Bull seat could be driving tension between the two, Ricciardo was firm that his attention is solely on driving matters and not the future.
Viewed by others:
"Look, I don't know, I've been in this for a long time now, and I feel like every year there is a pressure," Ricciardo explained when asked by RacingNews365 if the fact that both he and Tsunoda are vying for the Red Bull seat was a factor in any team tension.
"I am someone that has obviously got to a top team, and then I am also someone that has lost a contract and been sitting on the sidelines, so I've been through it all.
"At the end of the day, you have to simplify these things like, I am standing here doing media, but my purpose of being here [in Saudi Arabia] is to race and to drive the car as fast as I can.
"So yes, we can overcomplicate or think about what happens if this team is watching me here and do I have a chance of getting this contract, there are so many things.
"But all we have to do is push that right pedal a little more than the left and really, that is it.
"Honestly, sometimes you have to break it down to something that simple, that's really, honestly why we are here."
Who do you think will be Max Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate in 2025? Let us know by voting in the poll below and in the comments!
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!