Unlike Nyck de Vries, Sergio Perez might’ve survived Red Bull’s brutality. However, as the saying goes, it ain’t over until it’s over. The Mexican’s seat, according to some experts, is still under threat and will remain so until the end of the season. We will see push come to shove after the summer break as all teams pull up their socks and Red Bull gets ready to face the challenge with their $7,000,000 disadvantage. This scenario might see the scales tip in favor of Daniel Ricciardo. Let us elaborate.

The post-summer break’s increased competitive phase will inevitably hit the grid after every team gets substantial time to develop. Sky Sports expert Karun Chandhok believes even though Max Verstappen claimed he can win the championship alone, he’ll need Perez. The reasoning behind it is that the other teams will catch up to Red Bull thanks to their reduced wind tunnel usage time because of their budget cap infringements besides the $7 million penalty they got.

On the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Chandhok says, “If Mercedes and McLaren and Aston and Ferrari do get it together, and natural order of things will start to take convergence with the stability of rules, that’s just the way F1 has always been, they will get closer. Then Max [Verstappen] might need a support act. Then you can’t have a teammate who’s not made Q3 for four or five weekends in a row.”

He adds, “The point I’m trying to make is, from Red Bull’s perspective, it’s not about this year. This year’s done and dusted, they’re going to clean it up, it’s a question of when rather than if. But it’s about what’re they going to do next year. I think that’s where the Ricciardo factor starts to come into play.”

Ricciardo still has a ray of hope. However, his performance at AlphaTauri will still be key to his chances of landing the Red Bull seat in 2024, which is the general opinion.

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Ricciardo might be best placed to get back to Red Bull. However, his path to the coveted seat is full of obstacles. The first is Perez’s performance, he is after all second in the championship standings. Perez also brings massive sponsorship revenue and social media following with him which translates to marketability. Second will be the in-from Yuki Tsunoda who drove incredibly at Spa. This is exactly why 2016 champion Nico Rosberg believes it will be straightforward for Ricciardo.

Rosberg said, “Well, it’s really going to be dominating [Yuki] Tsunoda, it’s going to be getting some points, some really strong races. Then, it depends on [Sergio] Perez also. If Perez continues this difficult form, then there could be a chance. But it’s going to be a big ask.”

Now, the restart after the summer break will carry a little bit more excitement for Riccairdo stans. Let’s hope he gets his fairytale ending.

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