A Red Bull seat wouldn’t be a Red Bull seat without at least some pressure. And this season, it’s been pressure after pressure for Sergio Perez. First, it was the pressure to go toe-to-toe with Max Verstappen. When he was doing that in the beginning, he felt the need to try and beat Verstappen, but in doing so, he succumbed to the pressure, and his performance started worsening. And even though Red Bull has reiterated that his seat isn’t in danger, now that Daniel Ricciardo is in the AlphaTauri, Perez might be second-guessing his safety.

But what does Ricciardo need to do to solidify his chances of returning to the second seat in Red Bull? The fact that he got offered the AlphaTauri seat the same day he drove the RB19 for the first time pointed to Christian Horner having seen a spark in him reminiscent of Daniel’s Red Bull days. But just because he seems to have gotten his mojo back doesn’t mean he’ll automatically become eligible for Perez’s $8 million-worth seat next season. According to Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle, he has a lot to prove before he gets that opportunity.

As quoted by motorsport-total.com, while discussing how Ricciardo would have to prove himself in Alpha, Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column, “That is a high risk for Daniel in what is probably the slowest car in the field.” Currently 10th in the championship, it’s no secret the AT04 is the slowest car on the grid. Even so, Yuki Tsunoda has managed to squeeze out a couple of points finishes to get the team on the board. It’ll be up to Ricciardo to prove how well he can do against Tsunoda and how much of the car’s potential he can maximize.

To ensure that Red Bull at least pays him a second glance for its second seat next year, Brundle believes Daniel needs to outperform Tsunoda every time he goes out on track. “He absolutely has to. He has to beat [Tsunoda] in qualifying and in the races, that’s an absolute given that you can expect,” said the Briton. [translated via Google]

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Yuki solidified his team leader role while partnering with Nyck de Vries. Not only would Daniel have to uproot Yuki’s hold on the team leader position, but also ensure that he outperforms him regularly to make Red Bull believe that he still has it in him to beat the younger generation. Because that’s who he’s up against. Even if Red Bull made him a deal involving outperforming Tsunoda to get the second seat, Ricciardo shouldn’t get too excited.

Could Daniel Ricciardo be setting himself up for heartbreak?

When Nyck De Vries signed his contract with AlphaTauri till the end of 2024, he revealed that Red Bull promised him the second seat for 2025. In light of his ouster, not only did Red Bull terminate his contract early, but it also took away his chance of racing for Red Bull after promising him the seat. Considering that, could Ricciardo face such a situation too?

According to Brundle, Red Bull might’ve made him that offer. He said, “Daniel has always talked about losing his mojo and needing to get his enthusiasm back, so I didn’t think he would go into it unless there’s another deal that comes with it, a ‘you do this and then we’ll do it’.” If this is true, Ricciardo will do his best to outperform Tsunoda. But even if he does, he shouldn’t bank on the promise Red Bull has supposedly made, considering what happened with De Vries.

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