Daniel Ricciardo reacts to midseason Red Bull driver swap theory

Daniel Ricciardo was questioned about Red Bull’s decision over whether to swap out Sergio Perez.

Helmut Marko has confirmed that, in the summer break, Red Bull will sit down and decide whether the under-fire Perez, who crashed in qualifying for the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix should continue.

RB driver Ricciardo is among the lead contenders to replace Perez. Liam Lawson is also in the mix.

But Ricciardo insisted after qualifying at the Hungaroring, where Crash.net are in the paddock, that he is focused on avoiding the axe himself.

“I haven't been told anything,” he said about Red Bull’s looming decision.

“But I've told myself if I can do it, go fast. You’ve got two races to give it hell.

“ And that's honestly not even with the the idea of moving up, it's even just trying to lock something in for next year.

“I intentionally came into the weekend telling myself that these two races could be two of the most important of not only my season but potentially my career.

“They haven't specifically said anything to me but I've said enough to myself.”

Ricciardo analyses Tsunoda crash

Ricciardo’s RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda also crashed in qualifying on Saturday, a poorly timed incident for his own hopes of being promoted into the Red Bull.

“I saw the aftermath, but I honestly don't even know what corner he went off on,” Ricciardo said about Perez’s crash.

“I just saw Yuki’s now. So a few of us on Thursday, like the few that do a track walk saw that the edge drops a lot. And we thought if you drop off a wheel there, it's going to just skateboard and do literally what it did.

“So there's just no margin for error on that corner. It was a big one. I mean, I saw him get out, so I think he's OK, but obviously it's completely destroyed the car.

“So I don't think that is the nicest kind of run-off that they've created for us.

“Look. we’re pushing, it's Q3, I'm not making an excuse for Yuki but that corner you just have no margin. So you drop a wheel there and it's game over. So that was that.

“And then Checo’s, I know that was probably when it was still a little bit damper, and these conditions you've got to send it and put it all on the line and small mistakes obviously have big consequences.

“So there's a lot of pressure on not only us as Red Bull right now but everyone in that situation. So everyone has moments but when you cross the line sometimes you're just like ‘Thank you’.”

Ricciardo qualified for the Hungarian Grand Prix in ninth.

“Decent outcome,” he reacted. “I definitely feel like we would have had something for the Astons without without the red in Q3.

“Obviously getting like a proper new tyre run, I don't know if we would have got Fernando Alonso or not, but I definitely think we would have been in the fight. So yeah, potentially a couple more positions up the grid.

“But it's been a smooth weekend. It's been good. We've been quick.

“Other than FP1 where I wasn't really happy, from that point on, we've been competitive and confident, the team has been in a good place.

“And even Q1, we were in the knockout, and I was like: ‘Well, you’ve got one lap…'

“And even the drizzle, you're like ‘Is the track going to be OK?’ and we put in a good lap there and that obviously got everyone excited on the team.

“It's been solid. I feel like there's still a little bit left on the table, just with the circumstances, what happened, so I think this is good for us coming into the race that we are looking ahead. We're certainly not trying to hang on to these points, we're going to try and hunt for more.”