F1 expert Ted Kravitz believes Daniel Ricciardo will claim at least one podium this season in his RB and is the ‘number one candidate’ to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull next season.
But he also highlighted Ricciardo’s biggest contender for the seat as one of F1’s greatest silly seasons looms, with more than half the grid off contract at the end of this campaign.
Meanwhile popular former Haas team principal Gunther Steiner – the no-nonsense, expletive-happy German made popular by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series – also believes Ricciardo is ‘the guy in the best place’ to replace Perez.
The Mexican driver has been Max Verstappen’s teammate since 2021 but has failed to live up to expectations. Though Red Bull are currently in turmoil – with Verstappen himself linked to a possible Mercedes exit amid the soap opera around Christian Horner’s sexting scandal – they remain favourites to win the driver’s and constructor’s championships once again this year.
But Sergio Perez is under a dark cloud, with the out-of-contract driver facing a stiff challenge to maintain his seat in 2025.
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Ricciardo goes off in cooldown lap chaos | 00:58
Sky Sports F1 expert Tedd Kravitz was asked about Ricciardo’s prospects at a Sky Sports fan Q&A ahead of the Saudi Arabia GP this weekend.
He said: “Firstly, I think he’s going to have a very good season.
“I think he’s going be on the podium at least once in that RB [having claimed a best finish of just seventh last season]. I think he’s going to score a lot of points and help move that team forward.
“They’ve got a lot of big technical signings – Tim Goss, a very experienced technical guy, and a lot of people have joined from other teams, including Red Bull.
“And as for replacing Perez, Daniel is still, I think, the number one candidate to replace Perez, now that they can’t get Lando [Norris] and Lewis [Hamilton] has gone elsewhere, it’s really between Ricciardo and Sainz.”
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Spaniard Carlos Sainz will lose his Ferrari seat at the end of the season to Mercedes superstar Lewis Hamilton.
The 29-year-old finished third in the season-opening Bahrain GP last weekend – behind the Red Bull duo – in his 19th F1 podium finish.
He is a strong contender to replace Hamilton in what would be a straight driver swap between the two teams.
Verstappen storms to victory in Bahrain | 02:36
But Sainz began his F1 career at Red Bull’s feeder team Toro Rosso (later AlphaTauri, now RB) alongside Verstappen in 2015 and 2016, and the graduate of Red Bull’s vaunted junior academy could reunite with the Dutch superstar at the senior team next year.
However, Kravitz believes that Ricciardo has the upper hand on Sainz given the successful partnership the Australian had with Verstappen – compared to Sainz’s ugly exit from Toro Rosso.
“I just think Ricciardo would be a little bit better for inter-team morale, purely because it didn’t end particularly well when Sainz and Verstappen were teammates,” Kravitz continued.
“But they’re both older and they’ve both moved on a lot from the Toro Rosso days, so maybe it might work.
“But I still think somewhere deep in Red Bull, the plan is for Danny Ric to replace Checo in 2025.”
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Former F1 champion Damon Hill is unclear if Sainz would want to return to Red Bull, but says his proven record of race wins (2) and podiums (18) shows he is strongly in contention for the Mercedes seat alongside George Russell.
“He’s fighting to show that he’s a commodity, he’s a guy you’d like to have in your car at the sharp end,” Hill said on the F1 Nation podcast.
“And there’s a couple of places he wants to go. I would say… I don’t know if Red Bull is on his list, he’s obviously qualified as a Red Bull driver originally, but if Checo [Perez] leaves, there may be a seat there.
“But would it be the right thing to do? Would Mercedes be the right place to go? I mean, there is the problem with you’re swapping drivers from Ferrari to Mercedes and Mercedes would have to explain why they were taking a driver that has been thrown out in favour of the driver they already had at Mercedes.
“But I think what they’re after at Mercedes is someone who can deliver at the sharp end in Formula 1 and he can do that. And also, he’s driven for a very big team in Ferrari, so he understands all those pressures.”
Mercedes could also turn to 17-year-old F2 prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a supremely talented youngster, while Australia’s Oscar Piastri has also been linked with the team.
But Hill says a proven performer is probably what Mercedes will target.
“If you promote a young driver, they’ve got to learn about the team, they’ve got to learn about Formula 1. You can see in Oscar and his enormous talent, he’s still learning. And I think that Carlos would be a strong candidate for that place at Mercedes.”
Horner & Max’s dad share heated chat | 00:19
Meanwhile, Steiner says Ricciardo “already has a foot in the door” with Red Bull and is a ‘chance’ to replace Perez.
“I think there is a chance,” Steiner told News Corp. “Sergio’s contract is up and there was a lot of criticism last year about Sergio. I mean. Max is just so superior.
“So I think if Daniel does a good job he has a chance. I think he is the guy in the best place to have a chance to get the seat if Perez doesn’t perform.
“To get that second seat, who is better? He already has a foot in the door with Red Bull. He was there a long time, they know him, he is appreciated there and he is liked there.
“If he performs, he has a big chance to get that seat if Checo Perez doesn’t perform.
“His comeback (last year) was a lot better than when he left McLaren. At McLaren, it just didn’t work. He was not in a good place, I think.
“He came back and he was pretty strong, then he had the broken wrist and all that stuff, so we need to see this year what he can do.”