Daniel Ricciardo told he will "have to work hard to retain” his RB F1 seat

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner says Daniel Ricciardo will have to “work hard to retain” his seat at RB.

Ricciardo was overlooked for a return to the Red Bull senior team next year with Sergio Perez being re-signed to remain Max Verstappen’s teammate for the next two seasons.

Meanwhile, over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull also confirmed that Ricciardo’s stablemate, Yuki Tsunoda, will be staying put at sister team RB for 2025.

That leaves just one seat left to fill in the Red Bull stable which is currently occupied by Ricciardo, who has endured a mixed start to the 2024 campaign.

“I think Daniel has had an up and down start to the year,” Horner told Sky Sports in Canada.

“He knows he has to deliver. He knew he hadn’t done enough to warrant a seat in the senior team for next year."

Horner admitted that Ricciardo will have to work to keep hold of his drive, with Red Bull juniors Liam Lawson and Formula 2 frontrunner Isack Hadjar looking to take advantage of any potential opening.

“There’s still plenty of time,” Horner said about when a decision on the second seat will be made.

“We’ve got Daniel, whose obviously got a great deal of experience and I think what you can’t ignore that his experience has definitely benefitted Yuki, because there’s some real engineering direction in there and I think there’s really helped that time.

“We’ve got some great young talent coming through in Formula 2, we’ve got Isack Hadjar knocking on the door.

“He’s [Ricciardo] going to have to work hard to retain that seat, if that's what he wants to do.

“Liam [Lawson] as well, he’s another really valid member of the team. He’s champing at the bit, glued to every session. And we know what he’s capable of. So there’s always pressure on the incumbent drivers.”