Despite Sergio Perez recovered at the end of the season, also taking second place for Red Bull in the drivers ranking a clause in the contract of Daniel Ricciardo – currently busy with AlphaTauri, could put him at risk for 2024.
Can Perez rest easy?
It is not the first time that the name of Daniel Ricciardo, who returned to F1 this season in place of Nyck De Vries, has been compared to that of Perez. Ricciardo has already raced for the main team. And his signing as Red Bull's third driver after leaving F1 in 2022 has earned him the AlphaTauri seat. Ricciardo's arrival immediately put Perez on alert. Daniel's name and his experience make him a formidable substitute.
Perez spent half the season breathing down his neck and this partly affected his performance. The media started talking about a possible change between the two. Even Max Verstappen was asked questions about who of the two he would prefer as a partner. However, the Dutchman never exposed himself, specifying that he is not interested. The team also defended Perez, despite the many problems he had in a season in which the RB19 dominated. His second place in the drivers' standings put him in a relatively comfortable position. Relatively speaking, as we know, Red Bull has no problem replacing its drivers during the current season. Perez's season was also quite expensive. His accidents have caused Red Bull's costs to skyrocket and they have never had any problems with Max.
Ricciardo's clause
In fact, there is a clause in Ricciardo's contract and this would allow him to move directly to Red Bull after just a few races. This clause is cited by a British journalist Joe Saward. Saward specifies in his blog that, according to well-informed sources“There is a clause in Ricciardo's contract to move to Red Bull Racing after the first races of next year, if Sergio Perez does not improve his performance. Should this happen, Daniel Ricciardo would triple his current salary, and Liam Lawson would be his replacement.". Lawson replaced Ricciardo from the Dutch GP to the Mexican GP due to Daniel's accident, also obtaining 2 championship points.
Saward also spoke in the blog about a rather attractive purchase proposal from the AlphaTauri satellite team, which will start next year it will change name, but not ownership. In fact, as the journalist says, Red Bull rejected an offer of 1,2 billion dollars to personally dedicate itself to the project.
