Daniel Ricciardo would not be drawn on rumours he could replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, citing the speculation in Formula 1 has made it become “more Hollywood”.
Ricciardo’s prospects past the ongoing campaign are undetermined due to an inconsistent season which has prompted his spot on the grid with RB to be scrutinised.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko hinted Ricciardo’s time could be up last month as he disclosed the Austrian brand’s shareholders were angling to see youth integrated.
Liam Lawson, who deputised when Ricciardo was sidelined last term, is in the running at RB and he will complete an outing in Red Bull’s RB20 car in the coming week.
But although Sergio Perez’s renewal seemed to close the door on Ricciardo returning to Red Bull, reports have touted the Mexican’s struggles could create an opening.
However, Ricciardo, who came home ninth in Austria last weekend to bolster his chances, was non-committal on rumours that he could be in line to seize a promotion.
“I would never make any predictions in this sport,” Ricciardo said when asked about the situation brewing at Red Bull.
“I feel like every year that this sport goes on, the more it gets, I know it kind of goes in the trend of the sport is getting bigger.
“It’s becoming more Hollywood so to speak in terms of the profile the sport has and also the narrative that runs with the sport now is certainly more Hollywood in terms of it.
“It’s so unpredictable. So do I have any proof that I’ll be anywhere else? I do not.
“And yeah, it’s crazy things happen, but I am certainly not in a place to say that or think that or predict that. So try and keep doing my thing.
“Obviously, yeah, today wasn’t the case. But again, not to completely just point the finger. But there wasn’t much more I could do with the situation where I was in.”
Ricciardo’s aim to build on that promise at the Red Bull Ring experienced a setback at Silverstone as he qualified down in 15th place, behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
However, the Australian rued RB placing him in a suboptimal position on the track in Q2 as he encountered traffic and ended up with the slowest time in the Q2 stage.
“It’s definitely been a tricky weekend for us in terms of pace,” he admitted.
“Us as a team felt like we’d certainly been missing a bit and even this morning in Inter conditions.
“Sometimes that level is a playing field, but we still we still were missing something.
“I mean Q1 was these conditions are actually quite fun, when it’s mixed and you’re putting slicks on and it’s tricky but you know we got through and that was good.
“But Q2 honestly I’m pretty frustrated with felt like obviously in the cockpit all right I try that’s why I probably don’t go crazy on the radio.
“But I felt like everything I knew, I was questioning a lot of the choices we were making and the run plan and the timings.
“And yeah, at the end, obviously, we trip over everyone in the last chicane trying to open a lap and making enemies, kind of breaking that gentleman’s agreement by overtaking and trying to get my lap before the light goes out. And then I start the lap close to [Guanyu] Zhou and it’s just we never had a chance.
“So in the first run as well I honestly don’t think we did a great job with the run plan. So we’re not in that luxury to mess it up.
“We’re obviously not quick enough and yeah it showed today. I’m not saying we could be a P8 or something but we left, I felt like we left a lot on the table.”
But while he was agitated with the calls from the pit wall which cost him a higher starting spot at Silverstone, Ricciardo was unwilling to issue too much blame to RB.
“I feel today’s result is… I’m hesitant to point the finger,” he added. “I don’t want to be that guy because we all make mistakes.
“But today being whatever, how much off the pace is not a true reflection of that.
“So personally, I don’t feel any different to the last few weeks in terms of I still feel good and positive in the car.
“But maybe that’s where a lot of that frustration lies is that I’m paid for a little s**t, but we’re OK. We just did a once a s**t job.”
