Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed rumours regarding Daniel Ricciardo being replaced at RB’s Formula 1 team mid-season came from Liam Lawson’s camp.
Ricciardo endured a challenging beginning to the current season as less experienced RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had outperformed him across the first four rounds.
With the Australian’s Red Bull return chances appearing to be over for 2025, reports in New Zealand had touted that Ricciardo could be in line to also lose his RB seat.
Lawson is set to be the next Red Bull affiliate in line and he produced some impressive outings when he deputised for the sidelined Ricciardo at five rounds last term.
However, Marko has clarified that there is no imminent swap being considered, citing that such speculation had emanated from leaks through Lawson’s management.
“The rumours that Ricciardo will be replaced by Liam Lawson at Imola are nonsense,” Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek.
“Liam’s manager from New Zealand was there, apparently he has certain dreams and they are made known through some media, including from New Zealand.
“Nothing at all is planned in Imola. But of course we will look at this in the future.”
Ricciardo responded to his critics last weekend in Miami, as he got his F1 season up and running with a superb fourth-place finish in the truncated Sprint encounter.
“Daniel also delivered a remarkable performance in the Sprint,” Marko assessed. “Fourth place was a sensation and he set the fastest time in sector three.
“This sector consists mainly of slow corners. If you drive precisely there, you will gain an incredible amount of time.
“And if you make a mistake, it’s doubly punishing because of the slow speed.”
However, the eight-time grand prix winner slumped to a subsequent Q1 elimination and was unable to claw back into points contention as he trailed home in 15th.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda followed up a comeback to eighth in the Sprint with a stellar seventh in the main race, cementing RB’s hold on seventh place in the standings.
“Three hours later, Ricciardo made a mistake [in the sector] where he achieved his fourth place,” Marko highlighted.
“This meant he was out of the window in qualifying and was eliminated in Q1. But that wasn’t all, because Ricciardo never got up to speed in the race either.
“Yuki set consistently fast times, while Ricciardo lacked the speed and confidence that was evident in the Sprint.”
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