Who could replace Sergio Perez in Austria?

It was announced on Thursday afternoon that Sergio Perez became unwell on Wednesnay night. Who could replace the Red Bull driver if he is not fit enough for qualifying?

A Formula 1 driver may miss all free practice sessions, but must qualify to compete in a Grand Prix. Normally this is held on Saturday, but given the sprint race in Austria, qualifying this race weekend will already be held on Friday. So the Mexican has until 5pm on Friday afternoon to patch himself up.

The name most people might want to hear is that of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian is Max Verstappen' s former teammate and one of the public's favourites on the grid due to his humour and charms. He has also achieved his greatest successes at the Austrian racing stable, including multiple wins. Someone with so much experience and with knowledge of the team is probably the safest choice for Red Bull as a replacement for Verstappen, even though the driver has not driven a Formula 1 car for a while.

On top of that, Ricciardo is Red Bull's 'third' driver. He is mostly involved in simulator and PR activities. The team's official reserve drivers are Liam Lawson and Zane Maloney. Lawson has by far the most experience due to his Formula 2 career and also holds a super licence that allows him to race in an F1 car. Juniors Ayumu Iwasa and Dennis Hauger do not have enough licence points.

However, Lawson is currently racing in Japanese Super Formula, so he is not on standby to step in in Austria. There is no race this weekend in the Japanese racing class, so the New Zealander may have plenty of time to travel to the mountain state.

Another potential option Red Bull has is to put AlphaTauri drivers Yuki Tsunoda or Nyck de Vries in the RB19. The Japanese will in all likelihood be chosen sooner than the Dutchman. Not only does he have more experience, he is also in much better shape than his teammate.

The only problem with the AlphaTauri driver is that the problem then moves and a replacement will then have to be found at the sister team by Helmut Marko.