Daniel Ricciardo offers fix to Red Bull's Liam Lawson problem

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Red Bull Racing

Daniel Ricciardo offers fix to Red Bull's Liam Lawson problem

Red Bull's second driver issue shows no sign of easing

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Tuesday 25 March 2025 21:00

As the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and so far this year, certain drivers now outside of Formula 1 are seeing their stock rise despite not being anywhere near a track.

Unfortunately, Liam Lawson does not fall into that category. Having replaced Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez at VCARB and Red Bull in the space of a few months, all was looking well for the Kiwi heading into the 2025 season.

However, what Red Bull expected was an upgrade on the man he replaced, who, for the vast majority of 2024, saw his reputation as a racing driver trashed given his alarming inferior performances in relation to Max Verstappen.

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At the very least Lawson could be expected to at least have sight of Verstappen's rear wing couldn't he? The truth has been far more brutal. Struggling to get to grips with the RB21's small operating window and design built in favor of Verstappen, the Kiwi racer has somehow brought even more catastrophic results than Perez.

Liam Lawson's nightmare Red Bull start

To make matters worse, Verstappen is second in the championship on 36 points, and even both Racing Bulls are outperforming Lawson as a further humiliation.

To Verstappen's credit, he hasn't milked his superiority. On the contrary, he has given Red Bull a nudge over the so far disappointing RB21 by suggesting Lawson would be a lot further up the grid if he was still driving a VCARB.

So, Lawson's credibility as a race driver isn't the whole issue here - and if anything his struggles are only raising the stock of Perez who doesn't seem so bad and 'past it' after all now even at the age of 35.

But as rumors swirl over a driver swap involving Tsunoda and Lawson, in time for the former's home race in Japan, there is also a good reason - a sporting one too - for Red Bull to return to an old face should they feel the desperate need to take Lawson out of the firing line.

So come on down Ricciardo and not just because he is a much-missed character in the paddock, but because in all honesty Red Bull never really replaced him after he left in 2018 in the first place.

Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon failed to meet the grade. Perez worked in fits and starts, but it was Ricciardo who arguably offered the most as a team-mate against Verstappen.

Maybe at the age of 35, going on 36, he isn't at his best anymore. He certainly didn't gain either after leaving Red Bull in 2018 - especially after a disastrous two years at McLaren and a lackluster year at VCARB.

But at the very least there is an argument he can offer a solution to what is becoming the most poisoned chalice in F1 as Red Bull's second driver.

Why Daniel Ricciardo is Red Bull's best option

Maybe, Ricciardo is best equipped to deal with RB21's characteristics. There is certainly no personality clash with Verstappen, on the contrary, the pair always seemed to have a good relationship. Red Bull also knows exactly what type of driver they are working with and to cater to. A learning process is quickly skipped.

And while Red Bull will quite rightly be more interested in who is the best possible person to drive the car, Ricciardo is almost undoubtedly the best possible solution from a PR perspective (except maybe for Japanese fans, especially around Suzuka in a couple of weeks as Tsunoda mania hits overdrive).

Should a switch be decided upon, welcoming back Ricciardo into the fold would do wonders for Red Bull's image in an already tricky situation and would give the Australian a better and less painful way of leaving F1 eventually than the very sad and sudden departure he made in Singapore last season.

Perhaps, Ricciardo doesn't even want to come back to F1, which is also perfectly understandable given the way he was disposed of, but Red Bull would be foolish not to at least be considering a move for the Australian at a time when as driver replacements go, there really isn't too much to risk in terms of losing performance value - certainly not from a points outlook anyway.

So whether it's Christian Horner or Helmut Marko that have to swallow perhaps a little bit of pride and pick up the phone to arrange a ~~shoey~~ drink or lunch over persuading Ricciardo to return - there are certainly far worse options available to the team to fix their seemingly never-ending number two driver crisis.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Red Bull Max Verstappen Formula 1 Daniel Ricciardo Sergio Perez Fernando Alonso