Another non-decision for Ricciardo: 'That's the focus right now'

F1 News

daniel ricciardo no clarity on future by vcarb
4 July at 07:00
  • Ludo van Denderen

Daniel Ricciardo took home two points after the Austrian Grand Prix and the Australian also finished once above his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. A boost, then, for the Visa Cash App RB driver, whose contract expires after this season and whose future in Formula 1 is uncertain.

Helmut Marko - the Red Bull teams' external advisor - already hinted that VCARB is a training team, in which actually young talents should be given the chance. At 35 years old, Ricciardo does not fulfil that. Should VCARB decide not to renew Ricciardo's commitment, he will have no other options, the veteran driver informed GPblog in Austria. In short, it will be an exciting time for Ricciardo.

Ricciardo must wait

Peter Bayer, the CEO of VCARB, is less outspoken than Marko. Asked whether Ricciardo has earned his spot with the Italian team, Bayer says: "Looking back last year when he joined the team, he brought a whole new energy and spirit into the team and he has been extremely helpful in supporting Yuki. Yuki has just stated that very recently, actually, that he still keeps learning from Daniel. And it's part of our job to develop the drivers. That's what we currently do."

"Certainly, this is about performance. We do luckily have a couple of options with the junior programme, but we're also not in a hurry to take a decision for next year's line-up. We've confirmed Yuki, which was very important for us, and the focus currently is on the car and going into the summer break and having a quiet discussion," Bayer said.