Formula One commentator David Croft says he wouldn’t be surprised to see Daniel Ricciardo replace Sergio Perez and reunite with former teammate Max Verstappen on the 2024 grid. After being sacked by McLaren with a year to run on his contract and replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull, where he will share reserve driver duties with Liam Lawson this season.
Ricciardo will attend around eight races this season as he takes a step back from the physical and mental demands of a 23-race calendar. Perez is contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2024 and it would take a bomshell implosion for Ricciardo to steal the Mexican’s seat, given he’s been a perfect foil to Verstappen in his two title-winning seasons.
But there were signs of a breakdown between the two Red Bull drivers last year when Verstappen refused to let Perez past him at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Croft believes anything is possible in the crazy world of F1 and Ricciardo could find himself back alongside Verstappen if things go pear-shaped at Red Bull this year.
“Never say never in F1,” Croft told Kayo Sports in an interview to air on Friday night. More surprising things have happened and it would not surprise me to see him and Max line up together in 2024. “Personally I think it’s such a shame he is not on the grid. If he comes back a better drive for it then we will all agree on the year off.”
Croft predicts it will be a difficult for Ricciardo to watch the action from the sidelines this year, given a path back into a top F1 team appears virtually non-existent should Perez perform well again. “It’s going to be a torturous 2023 for Danny,” the Sky Sports commentator said.
He says he is not done and wants to come back in F1 but where does he fit? On his day he is one of the most dynamic and exciting drivers. “Should he have taken a route at Haas? Did he need a rest? Did he need to recharge and find enthusiasm for life again? Only he can answer that.
“Where does he fit if not Red Bull? It’s not a top 3 team, it’s not Alpine, not Aston Martin and not McLaren so where?
The biggest key to his participation in F1 rests on Sergio and Max’s relationship which hasn’t always gone as smoothly.
“It will be interesting to see how closely Danny works with Sergio, he must be looking over his shoulder. It is Sergio’s seat to lose. Croft’s co-commentator Martin Brundle believes Ricciardo isn’t a threat to take Perez’s place, and argued the Australian might be better served racing in a different category this year.
“I don’t think Sergio feels pressure,” Brundle told Kayo Sports.
“He comes with a lot of Mexican support shall we say.
“He is a good combination with Max, he is too experienced, he is an adult amongst kids sometimes but I would say this isn’t going to faze him.
He is a good combination with Max, he is too experienced, he is an adult amongst kids sometimes but I would say this isn’t going to faze him.
“For Daniel, it will be interesting to see how many races he is at, it will be purgatory for him to be behind the scenes and not racing.
“He must feel like a spare bottle of champagne at a wedding.
“I have seen reserve drivers looking tormented at race weekends because they are born to race.
He is young enough and fast enough but he lost his way. I think he would have been better ‘doing a Kimi (Raikkonen)’ and going and doing something else, rallying, do nothing, but miss it.”
The 2023 F1 season gets underway at the Bahrain Grand Prix at 2am AEDT on Monday
Lando Norris believes the absence of former McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo will leave “big shoes to fill” on the Formula 1 grid in 2023.
Ricciardo will spend this year as Red Bull’s reserve driver having lost his McLaren seat after two disappointing seasons alongside Norris in 2021/22.
The eight-time race winner has seen his place at McLaren taken by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, who will make his F1 debut at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix
The Sakhir race will be the first time since June 2011 that Ricciardo has not lined up on the F1 grid, though he has regularly outlined a desire to return to a full-time seat in 2024.
Despite repeatedly insisting that he had little sympathy for Ricciardo during his struggles, Norris feels the loss of a driver of the quality and personality of Ricciardo – among the most decorated drivers of the last decade – will be keenly felt in 2023.