Daniel Ricciardo named as Red Bull ‘mentor’

Ex-F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has been named as a Red Bull mentor one year on from his shock exit from the sport.

Ricciardo raced with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, before opting to move onto Renault and then McLaren, but he only managed to add one extra race victory to his career tally after leaving Red Bull.

He rejoined the Red Bull family in 2023, and ended up racing for Red Bull's sister team VCARB (now Racing Bulls) alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

However, after being vastly outperformed by Tsunoda throughout 2024, Ricciardo was axed from the sport last September, and has not been seen since in a race car. While taking on a global ambassador role with Ford Racing, Ricciardo recently confirmed that he had retired.

Now, Tsunoda - who has really struggled at Red Bull since being promoted from Racing Bulls in April - revealed the role that Ricciardo has played in his career compared to the other stars he has driven alongside.

In a recent appearance on the Talking Bull podcast, the Red Bull driver was asked to describe his former team-mates in one word.

"Teacher. No teacher is wrong," Tsunoda told host Nicola Hume before asking her to clarify the meaning of the word mentor. "Yes, mentor. Mentor. Yes, nice," he then concluded.

Will Tsunoda race with Red Bull in 2026?

Tsunoda's contract within the Red Bull family comes to an end at the conclusion of this season, and his poor performances since joining the team suggest that he won't have his contract extended.

The Japanese racer has only scored 17 points across 15 race weekends since replacing Liam Lawson at the main Red Bull team, while his team-mate Max Verstappen is in a battle for the drivers' championship.

However, Tsunoda's best performance of the season came last weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when he qualified sixth before sticking to that position in the race and sealing some decent points for the team.

If he can continue in that vain of form and get himself somewhere near to the imperious Verstappen in qualifying sessions and races in the remainder of 2025, then Red Bull may look to keep him on as the four-time champion's team-mate for the vitally important 2026 season.

Should he fail to do so? The 25-year-old may be dealt the same abrupt end to his career as his mentor Ricciardo.

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