Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo lifeline emerges amid Red Bull F1 driver headache

Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo could both join Audi F1’s shortlist for the F1 2025 season if they are dropped by Red Bull at the end of F1 2024.

Audi, who will take over the existing Sauber team in time for F1’s 2026 regulation changes, are still searching for a team-mate for Nico Hulkenberg for next season after missing out on their top targets.

Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo to have a soft landing at Audi?

The German manufacturer’s long and public pursuit of Carlos Sainz ended in disappointment last month when the outgoing Ferrari driver confirmed that he will join Williams for F1 2025.

Meanwhile, Audi also missed out on second-choice option Esteban Ocon, who decided to swap Alpine for Ferrari customers Haas.

Despite signing a new two-year contract with Red Bull in June, Perez found himself under huge pressure after a desperate run of form in the lead up to F1’s summer break.

Key details: F1 driver market

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the 2024 grid?

Although every indication suggested that Perez would be dropped after the recent Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull confirmed following a crunch meeting that the 34-year-old will remain in place when the second half of the F1 2024 season begins with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 25.

Ricciardo had been regarded as one of the leading contenders to replace Perez as Verstappen’s team-mate for the rest of F1 2024, but the Australian has also been retained by junior team VCARB for the foreseeable future.

It remains to be seen whether the situation will be revisited as the second half of F1 2024 unfolds and ahead of next season, with Red Bull facing an ever-growing threat from McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.

McLaren sit just 42 points behind Red Bull with 10 races remaining, with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri banking consistent points.

A report by German publication Auto Motor und Sport has claimed that Perez and Ricciardo could be considered by Audi if they are released by Red Bull at the end of F1 2024.

The Four Rings are thought to be open minded over the identity of Hulkenberg’s team-mate following a series of high-level management changes, which resulted in former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto being appointed in the dual role of chief operating and technical officer.

Binotto’s arrival was swiftly followed by the arrival of Jonathan Wheatley, who will become Audi F1 team principal by “July 2025 at the latest” after a highly successful career as Red Bull’s sporting director.

Perez began his career with Sauber back in 2011, registering three podium finishes for the team before being signed as Lewis Hamilton’s successor at McLaren for the 2013 season.

The Mexican, who is known to bring significant sponsorship funds, also established a productive partnership with Hulkenberg over three seasons at Aston Martin (then Force India) from 2014, with the pair leading the team to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship in 2016.

Ricciardo also spent a single season as Hulkenberg’s team-mate at Alpine (then Renault) in 2019, outscoring the German by 17 points.

Audi are also understood to have an interest in Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, who impressed during a five-race cameo for an injured Ricciardo in mid-2023.

PlanetF1.com understands that a clause in Lawson’s contract will allow the New Zealander to leave Red Bull entirely if he is not promoted to a permanent seat with either Red Bull Racing or VCARB for F1 2025, with Red Bull’s option on the 22-year-old believed to expire next month.

Long-serving adviser Helmut Marko revealed earlier this summer that Red Bull shareholders are keen to see VCARB return to its Toro Rosso roots as a team to train young drivers, raising the possibility that either Lawson or Isack Hadjar, the Red Bull junior racer and the leader of the prestigious F2 championship, could be handed an opportunity next season.

Binotto’s appointment at Audi is also said to have enhanced Mick Schumacher’s hopes of a return to F1, with the German’s name increasingly cropping up in conversations regarding Sauber’s second seat for F1 2025.

Schumacher, the son of seven-time World Champion Michael, currently combines his role as Mercedes’ reserve driver with a race seat in Alpine’s World Endurance Championship operation, having lost his place in F1 at the end of the 2022 season after a disappointing spell with Haas.

Binotto was Ferrari team principal when Schumacher was handed a race seat in F1 following his title-winning F2 campaign in 2020.

Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion who had ties to McLaren prior to a contract dispute in 2023, is also thought to be an outsider in the race for an Audi seat.

Current incumbents Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are considered unlikely to be retained for F1 2025 as things stand.

Read next: Shock driver market twist as F1 2024 star conducts secret rally testing