Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda warned one of their Red Bull careers will end

30 January 2024 , 20:16

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Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda are competing against each other for their F1 futures this year (Image: Getty Images)

Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda have been warned that only one of them is likely to be left at the end of their first full season as team-mates and rivals.

They already know each other fairly well, having been partnered for seven races in the second half of 2023. It would have been a greater number, had Ricciardo not spent five more Grands Prix sidelined with a broken bone in his hand.

Red Bull's sister team may have a new name but the driver line-up remains unchanged. Ricciardo and Tsunoda both have a lot at stake personally this year as they go about their business representing Visa Cash App RB.

They have made it clear they would each like to be considered to replace Sergio Perez, should the top Red Bull team decide to make a line-up change. But their primary concerns will simply be maintaining the seats they have now with both at a career crossroads.

Ricciardo has already had a taste of life without a race seat and, although he needed a break at the time, he is not yet ready to step away from F1 for good. And Tsunoda, in his fourth year with the team, must continue to show progress if he is to keep his career alive.

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And Red Bull have a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings should either of them fail to live up to the task at hand. Liam Lawson impressed in his five-race cameo last year, covering for the injured Ricciardo, and is likely to be strongly considered for a 2025 seat with the RB sister team.

Former Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor thinks it may prove to be one of the intra-team battles worth watching closely this year. "I'm interested in the Daniel Riccardo-Yuki Tsunoda square-off," he said on the Cameron F1 podcast.

"This is effectively, if Yuki doesn't blow Daniel away, I'd say his career’s probably gone. And, equally, if Daniel doesn't blow Yuki away, his career's probably gone. So, there's a lot riding on those two."

They should at least benefit from better machinery this year with Red Bull determined for their two teams to work as closely together as F1 rules allow. "I think that car will probably be quite good - not because Christian Horner is playing a larger role with [the team]. He's bridging towards that other team a little bit," Windsor added.

"But because there's some good people at AlphaTauri, if we can still call them that. And there's a lot of technology there that they should be getting. I can't imagine that car's going to be slow, so that's one thing I'm looking forward to seeing that squaring off between the two drivers there."

Daniel Moxon