'Ricciardo favourite to replace Perez at Red Bull after or during 2024'

Sergio Perez seems a bit underwhelmed at Red Bull Racing after a disappointing season. The Mexican clearly cannot do the same as Max Verstappen in the RB19: the Mexican won just two races compared to Verstappen's 13 this season. Perez's contract at Red Bull runs until the end of 2024 and, according to F1 analyst Lawrence Barretto, Daniel Ricciardo is the favourite to replace Perez for now. This could also happen as early as the 2024 season, according to Barretto.

Perez cannot keep up with Verstappen in 2023

Perez is having a poor season compared to Verstappen in 2023. The two drivers have the same car, but Perez cannot get out of it what the Dutchman can. Despite the Mexican's poorer performance this season, the constructors' title was easily won by Red Bull, though. However, should the field be closer together next year, a better-performing driver alongside Verstappen would be of great importance to Red Bull in 2024.

'Ricciardo favourite to replace Perez'

Ricciardo returned to Red Bull this season after unsuccessful adventures at Renault (now Alpine) and McLaren. The Australian started as a third driver with the Austrian team and was thus on the sidelines, but after just 10 races Ricciardo was allowed to get behind the wheel of an F1 car again. The former McLaren driver became the replacement for Nyck de Vries, who was sent packing at AlphaTauri after ten races. However, Ricciardo has only been able to drive two Grands Prix for AlphaTauri so far, as the Australian broke a metacarpal at Zandvoort after a crash.

So despite the fact that Ricciardo has not been able to drive much in 2023, he would be the favourite to replace Perez after 2024 or even already during the season, should the need arise. According to Barretto, several sources would suggest that, the F1 analyst writes on Formula1.com. The Briton indicates that Liam Lawson would then most likely become the Australian's replacement at the AlphaTauri team.