Rumblings at Red Bull: Marko's Meeting with Norris' Manager Sparks Speculation
Jul.11 - According to Dr Helmut Marko, there is "no question" about whether Sergio Perez will hold onto his Red Bull seat for now.
He acknowledges that the Mexican has struggled even to get out of Q3 for five consecutive grands prix now, but Marko insists Perez is still quick enough for the seat.
"He started 15th, so sixth is ok," the 80-year-old Austrian told Osterreich newspaper when asked about the British GP at Silverstone.
"There no question that he is endangered, in any case," Marko added, offering his support for Perez.
But still, there are very interesting rumblings at present about drivers at Red Bull.
Daniel Ricciardo, for instance, will test the championship-leading 2023 car at the Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone from Tuesday.
"If we bring him back, will you be nice to me?" team boss Christian Horner was reported as asking a group of fans at Silverstone last weekend.
"It's an important test for Pirelli, but it will also be great to see where Daniel is."
Horner denied Australian Ricciardo, 33, is in the running to replace Perez, but that doesn't mean Red Bull isn't planning for the future.
For instance, amid Lando Norris' impressive performance at Silverstone, Marko is believed to have held a meeting with the McLaren driver's manager Mark Berryman.
And Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted Norris accepted his invitation to a private barbecue that was attended by about half of the F1 drivers.
"You can see he (Max Verstappen) enjoyed racing Lando," Horner is quoted by si.com.
"I had all the drivers for a barbecue at my house last night, and you see they go straight into talking about moments on track and their eyes light up about what happened here or there or even in Formula 3 or karting."
The only real vacancy in the Red Bull stable at present, however, is the AlphaTauri seat currently precariously occupied by under performing rookie Nyck de Vries.
Ricciardo admits he might be interested if it leads him back to the top team.
"If that creates a pathway to come back, then yeah, it's something I would look at because ultimately this is the place I want to come back to," said the Australian.
Marko, meanwhile, told Sport1 when asked about Ricciardo: "We didn't recognise him when he came back from McLaren.
"But we've fed him up again and he's doing a good job in the simulator now."
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher doubts Ricciardo is in the running for an immediate return to Red Bull Racing.
"At the moment I'm still assuming Perez will be in the Red Bull next year," he told Sky Deutschland.
"But if Alex Albon was free, which he isn't, or if Ricciardo can show his class again, things could get tight for him (Perez). But he has a contract and therefore I can't really imagine a separation."
As for the idea of Ricciardo racing an AlphaTauri, Schumacher added: "The car isn't particularly good, but who knows.
"Maybe Daniel likes the idea. The tyre test will certainly tell us a bit more."
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Classic Horner, come round for a friendly BBQ, all totally Innocent,with Daniel doing the cooking nodoubt mmmmm lol
Lando isn't going anywhere in the short-term.
Max would never let a half decent driver in and RB would only risk upsetting him when he's approaching the end of his contract.
RIC would have to accept No2 at RB. Although he thinks he is WDC material there is no way he will beat Max.
For those who poont to the first couple of years Max and RIC were together at RB that was when RIC was a very experienced driver and Max was a very young driver. There is no way RIC could compete consistently with Max now.
And all these other young drivers Leclerc. Russell , Norris, and Piastri are better than RIC.
I think RIC has come to terms with the idea that 2nd fiddle in a RB is still much better than arsing up in a MCL or Renault.
If he was to get back to RB now he's replaced De Vries at AT he can still win races and challenge Max, even though we know Max is in a league of his own right now. He'd be better at it than Perez I think.
Who knows next years car might be a lot better, they've already said that it must be, and so it should be sharing a lot, and soon a lot more of the Rb car, so Colgate can maybe edge further up the grid , cant be any worse than this years, DR was lucky, as was Perez being picked up by Rb, not forgetting when DR was signed , it wasn't with the intention of being a driver, so yes NDF downfall but DRs luck, this years a free ride , if next year he isnt smashing Yuki--- game over