- Ricciardo has piled the stress on Perez
- Christian Horner lauded the Aussie’s efforts
- Perez has had an underwhelming season
Daniel Ricciardo has piled extra stress on Sergio Perez for the second Purple Bull seat after scoring his first factors since returning to Formulation One with an unimaginable seventh-place end on the Mexican Grand Prix.
After qualifying fourth for the Mexico Metropolis race, Ricciardo accomplished AlphaTauri’s greatest outcome since final 12 months’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix when he capitalised on his gorgeous qualifying outcome.
Some 41 seconds off race winner Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, Ricciardo completed solely 0.55 seconds behind sixth-placed George Russell within the often much-faster Mercedes.
Purple Bull boss Christian Horner lauded the Aussie’s efforts on Monday morning in feedback that may do Perez’s peace of thoughts no favours.
‘You could not fail to be impressed by Daniel this weekend,’ Horner instructed Sky Sports activities.
Daniel Ricciardo is placing stress on Sergio Perez for the second Purple Bull seat
‘I imply, his qualifying was excellent yesterday and he confirmed his maturity and expertise and tempo within the race. I believe that combating a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri for his or her greatest results of the 12 months, it was an incredible efficiency.
‘And had it not been for the pink flag [after Kevin Magnussen crashed out], he might need truly completed even even additional up.
‘So he can take quite a lot of confidence, getting back from harm, he is had a tough time during the last couple of months having to take a seat on the sidelines, however that is the Daniel that we’re used to seeing.
‘As we have seen in sport, confidence is such a factor and his confidence is developing. Checo we simply want him to have a confidence-boosting outcome and he might have had it at the moment, however it wasn’t to be.’
Daniel Ricciardo returned to Formulation 1 with AlphaTauri in July.
Ricciardo’s six factors got here in solely his second race again from a damaged wrist, and mark his first top-10 end since returning to Formulation One in July after being axed by McLaren final 12 months.
Fellow Australian Oscar Piastri got here residence in eighth in his McLaren – the primary time two Aussies have claimed factors in the identical grand prix since 2013 in Brazil.
Ricciardo held his top-four place for the opening 10 laps, earlier than being handed by Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez crashed out on the very first nook after a collision with Leclerc
Perez is below stress to retain his seat at Purple Bull after a disappointing 2023 season
The 34-year-old fell to sixth after a mid-race restart, crushed off the road by Russell, earlier than being handed by his former McLaren teammate Lando Norris late on.
Ricciardo’s end is important given it helped carry his staff off final place within the constructors’ championship.
It additionally makes one thing of a press release to Purple Bull bosses, with Ricciardo driving of their sister staff.
Perez is below growing stress to retain his drive at Purple Bull after a completely underwhelming 2023 season.
Whereas teammate Verstappen has motored to a 3rd straight drivers’ title with a document 16 wins in 19 races, Perez has landed simply two victories within the championship’s greatest automobile.
The Mexican crashed out on the primary nook of his residence grand prix on Sunday after a first-corner collision with Charles Leclerc, making for 5 races and not using a podium end.
Purple Bull bosses have been hesitant to ensure his future, with Perez scoring 240 factors to Verstappen’s 491 to this point this season.
Ricciardo’s return to racing at AlphaTauri three months in the past was seen as a warning for Perez, with Purple Bull capable of maintain an in depth eye on the Australian’s development.
Ricciardo gained seven races with Purple Bull between 2014 and 2018, earlier than making a shock determination to depart the staff for Renault.
He stays the one teammate to have crushed Verstappen throughout a season, ending forward of the Dutch driver within the teen’s first full 12 months at Purple Bull in 2017.
