Ricciardo offers Perez advice as F1 pressure mounts

Daniel Ricciardo has told Sergio Perez he must "roll with" the ongoing speculation around his F1 future after his poor Red Bull form.

Since Imola, Perez's form has nosedived, scoring just 15 points in six races, with speculation ramping up that Red Bull could drop him mid-season if he cannot arrest the slide. 

RacingNews365 has reported that there are clauses in his contract which stipulate he must be no more than 100 points behind Max Verstappen after the Belgian Grand Prix, and five places behind in the standings.

Heading into Hungary, the race before Spa, Perez is 137 points behind Verstappen and sixth in the drivers' standings, although Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton could pass him this weekend.

Ricciardo himself has recently dealt with ongoing rumours around his future following his final season at McLaren in 2022, and has told Perez that although it feels "negative", his experience can help him to "roll with" it.

"It depends on how we are spotlighted in the media, but the truth is, every driver is under pressure - and even the ones that are killing it, there is pressure for them to keep performing," Ricciardo explained to media including RacingNews365.

"My point is that we all feel it and I have been in the spotlight a bit this year, Checo is in the spotlight, and even after my good race in Montreal, I said: 'I need to do another good one because you're only as good as you're last race' and one good weekend doesn't get you off the hook.

"Temporarily it does, but it can change quickly and I've seen some stats that Max has scored a lot more points than Checo, and they are expecting a bit more, but this is the sport, it is what we're all in.

"We feel it all the time, it is just who is in the spotlight this week and it is up to us to try and obviously shut it out, and that is not easy. Sometimes if everyone is just asking you questions, sometimes it feels very negative and sometimes it feels heavy.

"But in my experience, and we can put Checo in there as well as he's been in F1 for a similar amount of time, we have dealt with it enough that you learn to focus on the engineering, on the car set-up and the rest you just have to roll with.

"It can feel relentless and obviously I experienced that a bit at McLaren, and the media sessions for it are not exactly enjoyable, so you'd be lying if you said it doesn't bother or take a little bit away from you."

'Making your bed'

The Red Bull teams are notoriously tough on under-performing drivers, with Pierre Gasly dropped from the senior team mid-season in 2019 and Alex Albon cut at the end of 2020 following poor campaigns. 

But Ricciardo feels questions and speculation are something that must be accepted.

"You just have to accept it and try to deal with it. I always tried to be the bigger person in terms of: 'That's what I signed up for' and I'm trying to be the best in the world at something, and sometimes I will probably fall short - and this is what it going to come with it.

"It is like you make your own bed, and you just have to be okay laying in it sometimes if the sheets aren't made."

"Being in the Red Bull family, I am not a junior anymore, and so I know how it works. 

"It is always results driven and if we're doing a good enough job, then we put ourselves in the best seat if there is some movement and we hold the power in our results.

"There are always things happening in F1 but at the end of the day, it is in our control what we do behind the wheel and what the stopwatch says."