RB team boss, Peter Bayer admits that the Faenza-based outfit is likely to retain Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda for 2025.

The news comes weeks after sections of the media were warning that Ricciardo was to be dropped in time for the Miami Grand Prix in favour of reserve Liam Lawson, following a string of poor results, particularly in qualifying.

While the Australian continues to be out-qualified by his teammate, points in the Miami Sprint and an all-round improvement has seen the speculation over his future die down.

Indeed, speaking in Monaco, Peter Bayer said he the team is likely to retain its current line-up.

"We're very happy with both of our drivers," he said. "And honestly, we're not wasting time with discussing ifs and whens. We have a very strong line-up. We have a great reserve driver. We have great talent coming through F2, F3.

"Currently, it's all about focusing on performance," he added. "And perhaps the focus is more on Aston Martin in front of us than on driver discussions."

Asked about Tsunoda, who has had his own problems in the past but has appeared to go from strength to strength ever since Ricciardo joined the team to replace Nyck de Vries, Bayer said: "I definitely believe he has made a big step forward.

"It's physical preparation," he added, "but it's also his mental readiness to perform and deliver. One example I mentioned the other day: I think he simply understood that every time he would be swearing on the radio, that would cost him a tenth. So he's got himself under control.

"He's extremely professional in the work that he's putting into the feedback with the engineers," he continued. "And yes, he definitely made a big step up."

Minded that following his stint with the team last year, when he deputised for the injured Ricciardo, Helmut Marko had said that Lawson was a shoe-in for a seat in 2025, Bayer said: "Look, Liam is an extremely valuable member to the team. He's with us every weekend, obviously. He's doing a lot of work in the simulator.

"But as I said before, currently we have two drivers in the cars. We are finding performance with the two. And we really do not discuss the 2025 situation, perhaps because we're in a luxury situation of having that strong grassroot pyramid behind us. And so the focus is really on track and on the next couple of races until definitely the summer break."

According to Ricciardo, the root of his issues this season is his qualifying form, which has only seen him in Q3 on one occasion and fail to get through Q1 twice. On the other hand, Tsunoda has made it into Q3 six times.

Other than not feeling comfortable in the car, an aspect that the team is still working on, the Australian has felt unease with the tyres, though insists that he doesn't want it to sound as though he's making excuses.

"I don't want to just be like 'hey, tyres, this and that'," he said, according to Speedcafe. "I want to try and take a good look at myself and see what I'm missing.

"Then we'll look at what the car can give me to help me out, because I think the frustrating thing is I can do it, but it's obviously not happening frequently enough. That's where I'm kind of getting frustrated with myself, just trying to understand why it's not consistently, week-in, week-out being a Q3 contender."