‘Daniel Ricciardo Is Not a Superstar’: Ex-Ferrari Insider Defies Popular Belief to Root for Sergio Perez

Just over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about Daniel Ricciardo replacing Sergio Perez. Admittedly, these speculations began as early as when Ricciardo replaced Nyck de Vries in AlphaTauri, ten races into the season. The Honey Badger delivered some exceptional performances on his return and the poor run of form of Perez has left fans calling out for a replacement to the second seat at Red Bull.

Despite this, however, the Red Bull team has decided to give Perez another run, sticking with the contract that they had till the end of the 2024 season with Perez. However, with the team known for its brutal sacking and relegation of drivers, like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and the latest being Nyck de Vries, they wouldn’t mind giving over the seat to Ricciardo even if they have to break contracts. However, according to pundits, they haven’t done so yet because they feel Ricciardo isn’t quite up to the mark.

Ex-Ferrari insider snubs the second Red Bull seat for Daniel Ricciardo

Speaking to the Dutch version of Motorsport.com, former Bridgestone senior engineer at Ferrari, Kees van de Grint, recently snubbed Ricciardo out of the second seat. He thinks that he’s definitely not better than Sergio Perez and that Red Bull should look somewhere else to replace the Mexican driver if they choose to part ways with Perez.

“Ricciardo is well placed with the top people at Red Bull. I understand that you have a man with experience. Let me rephrase: he is a man with talent and experience. However, I find myself asking, where is the talent pool? You have to look into the talent pool (for the future). You often hear that he should be Max Verstappen’s new teammate. I don’t believe he is better than Perez. When the two were teammates earlier, Verstappen was still a rookie and a newcomer. Still, Verstappen was better.” Kees van de Grint stated.

He continues saying that Ricciardo might be ahead of Perez in contention because of the connections that he has, and not purely on pace. “Unfortunately, it’s not just about the pace, it’s also about connections and how well-connected you are.” He delivers a final verdict on the Honey Badger, stating that he’s not the man for the seat. “Ricciardo is a good driver, but he’s not the man for me. He’s not the superstar. He is a very nice guy, but those are two different things.“

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Surprisingly, he is not the only former Ferrari insider to come out against Ricciardo in the last couple of weeks. Ferrari’s former team principal almost echoed his words in his talk show not too long ago.

Peter Windsor also snubs Daniel Ricciardo

Talking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor also snubbed Daniel Ricciardo out of contention for the Red Bull second seat. However, unlike van de Grint, the former Ferrari team boss does think that Ricciardo would be an upgrade to Perez. Despite that, he doesn’t believe Ricciardo is the right man for the job.

“I don’t think Daniel, I think they probably think he’s not quick enough now, but really good bloke to have in the car, very good to have in the sim and all rest of it, but not probably quick enough to be in the other car.” He continues, “He’s probably at least as good as Perez if not better but you know he’s. I just don’t see it to me. I just don’t think he’ll go back there or they’ll have him back”

However, there has to be another question that immediately comes to people’s minds. If not Ricciardo, then who? It can’t be Lando Norris, or Charles Leclerc, both of whom have long contracts with their respective teams. Liam Lawson is still too inexperienced for the second seat, and Yuki Tsunoda is also not in the picture, completely ruled out by most experts.

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If not for Ricciardo, who do you see taking up the Red Bull’s second seat? Let us know below.