Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo post Spa video together as return rumours swirl
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo pictured together at the 2023 British Grand Prix
Max Verstappen has posted a video to Instagram of him leaving Spa with Daniel Ricciardo as rumours intensify that the pair are set to become Red Bull team-mates again for the second half of the F1 2024 season.
Verstappen‘s current Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is highly likely to be dropped during the summer break after a desperate run of form, which has seen him finish no higher than seventh since the Miami Grand Prix in early May.
Daniel Ricciardo to return to Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s team-mate?
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Although Perez signed a new two-year contract as recently as last month, it is understood by PlanetF1.com that a clause contained in the Mexican’s new deal has given Red Bull the power to drop him as he is currently in excess of 100 points adrift of Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings.
The current gap stands at 146 following Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, where Perez faded from second on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag. He was later promoted to seventh after Mercedes driver George Russell was disqualified due to an underweight car.
PlanetF1.com revealed ahead of qualifying at Spa that plans to replace Perez are advanced, with junior team VCARB set to hold a shootout test between Ricciardo and Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson at Imola on Wednesday.
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It is believed that whoever comes out on top between Ricciardo and Lawson will likely take Perez’s seat for at least the rest of F1 2024.
Although PlanetF1.com understands that there is no clear favourite between the pair as it stands, speculation that Ricciardo could get the nod intensified after the Australian was caught in discussion with Christian Horner and Laurent Mekies, the team principals of Red Bull and VCARB respectively, in the paddock following the race at Spa.
Verstappen went on to add fuel to the flames by posting a video to Instagram of him sitting alongside Ricciardo in a helicopter as the pair left the circuit on Sunday evening.
Are Red Bull about to get the band back together?
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen left the Spa circuit together last night pic.twitter.com/cLeCUsalE4
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) July 29, 2024
The clip shows both men giving a thumbs up to the camera and is accompanied by a song with the lyrics: “Hello, I’ve got places to be.”
Verstappen’s caption stopped short of dropping any hint about Red Bull’s driver plans, simply reading: “Thank you Spa, wishing you all a lovely summer break.”
A mid-season promotion would see Ricciardo, 35, return to the team with whom he claimed all but one of his eight career victories in a highly successful spell between 2014 and 2018.
Ricciardo spent two-and-a-half years as Verstappen’s team-mate between May 2016 and November 2018, before having short stints with the Renault (now Alpine) and McLaren teams.
The Perth-born star lost his place on the grid at the end of the 2022 season, returning to Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver at the beginning of last season before returning to racing action with VCARB (then AlphaTauri) in July 2023.
Ricciardo has registered four points-finishes – three of which have come in the last six races – since his comeback, in addition to a fourth-place result in the Miami sprint race.
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