Daniel Ricciardo admits that the final 8 races of the season are likely to decide whether he has a future in F1.

Dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022, the Australian watched the 2023 season get underway from the sidelines, albeit back in the Red Bull family fold as a reserve driver.

As has often been the case in the teams' history, patience ran out in terms of youngster Nyck de Vries and consequently Riccardo was given the second AlphaTauri seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

Unfortunately he crashed during qualifying for only his third event and didn't return until the final five races, during the course of which he was mostly out-performed by his Japanese teammate.

Retained for 2024, Ricciardo has continued to struggle and as early as Suzuka there was talk of his being dropped from Miami.

Fourth in the Miami Sprint he followed this up with an eighth in Canada, but still lagged behind his teammate.

Claims that both current drivers would be retained for 2025 took a hit when only Tsunoda was confirmed over the course of the Montreal weekend, Ricciardo ironically scoring his best finish of the year (thus far) the following day.

Ahead of the summer break the Australian, who at the start of the season said he was eyeing the second seat at Red Bull, admitted that he feared being dropped, but like Sergio Perez at the 'big team' was given a stay of execution.

All the while, Liam Lawson - his replacement for those five races he missed in 2023 - has been hovering in the background, while Helmut Marko told anyone who would listen that the New Zealander would be on the grid next season.

Of course, Ricciardo's situation hasn't been helped by the fact that what started off as a fairly decent car has taken a significant step backwards, the team still seeking to recover after the upgrade introduced in Spain took it in the wrong direction. Indeed, since RB uses the same wind tunnel as its 'big sister', some are wondering whether the correlation issue cited by Christian Horner for Red Bull's woes is also affecting the Faenza-based outfit.

In Baku this weekend Ricciardo will have the new floor only available to Tsunoda at Monza, even though the Japanese wasn't overly impressed by it.

Nonetheless, the Australian will take anything he can get, fearing that these final races will decide his future in the sport.

Feeling the clock is ticking, and that the fat lady is already gargling, Ricciardo will approach the remaining races as the most important of his career.

"It needs to be the mind-set," he said. "If I feel like I'm softening that, then I need to kind of shake myself a little bit and make sure I'm not.

"It is still very important, but I also think I am still learning, which is great," he added, "and I think that mind-set is a much better one for me.

"When there's a bit on the line, when that pressure is a little bit higher, it in a way kind of increases that spark in me and stops me from feeling a little bit, maybe relaxed or whatever you want to say. I've just got to make sure that I still, and I think this is still the case... these are very important races.

"But even if, for whatever reason, they weren't, even if I signed a contract today, I still should be telling myself that they are because I think that's where I operate the best for myself."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 10/09/2024 1:22

"I would rather see Ricciardo spend a year at RB alongside Verstappen where all his experience can be better utilized in the development of the 'q6 car...plus give the team better results as a team. It's almost impossible to look good in the other RB car. The team will have all the data to support his current efforts so hopefully he will get the nod. I am as yet not convinced that Lawson is the best bet for the future but we will see where he finishes up this time next year."

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2. Posted by Alex_V10_USA, 09/09/2024 15:57

"If the RB Junior squad retains RIC for 2025 then what do they truly stand for? What signal is that to the deep beach of RB academy drivers in junior formulas. That would be utter madness but then I thought it was mad to resign him in the first place.

I wish him well. Be a RB brand ambassador, WEC driver, Sky announcer, there are so many good fits for him off the grid, where he certainly no longer does."

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"These are very important races," admits Ricciardo

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