Daniel Ricciardo “protected” by Christian Horner as Helmut Marko “has lost power”

Daniel Ricciardo is reportedly “protected” by Christian Horner amid a disappointing season so far.

Ricciardo had the backing of the Red Bull team principal last year mid-season when an impressive test enabled him to return to the F1 grid full-time at sister team AlphaTauri, replacing Nyck de Vries.

Ricciardo entered this year as a major candidate to replace Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull contract will expire this year.

But he has disappointed with RB this year, and sits 14th in the F1 standings, four places behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

The BBC report that Tsunoda is not “changing minds” at Red Bull despite his run of form, which includes scoring points in five of the past six grands prix.

So although Tsunoda may not be a contender to replace Perez alongside Max Verstappen in 2025, his underperforming teammate Ricciardo still has the same key supporter.

Ricciardo is “safe for now” from being axed at RB, and replaced by Liam Lawson, the BBC report.

However, Ricciardo is another cog in the internal problems within Red Bull that were laid bare after the investigation which cleared Horner after accusations from a colleague.

Helmut Marko, the veteran adviser within F1’s dominant team, “would probably like to promote Lawson” at Ricciardo’s expense.

But Marko “has lost power and influence” in the fallout from the controversy involving Horner.

Lawson could conceivably find himself in an RB full-time next season, but it would be alongside Ricciardo rather than instead of the popular Australian.

Tsunoda may look elsewhere as he is clearly not going to be promoted from RB to Red Bull.