Liam Lawson revealed he has been set a target of beating Yuki Tsunoda to be in contention for a Red Bull seat in 2025 ahead of his return to the track this weekend. 

Lawson will partner up with Tsunoda for RB at the United States Grand Prix in Austin after replacing Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of the season. 

The New Zealander returns to the grid for the first time in a year after deputising for Ricciardo for five races last season, scoring points at the Singapore Grand Prix on just his third start.

Lawson has the chance to impress again this time around, with a potential view of joining Max Verstappen at Red Bull next year. 

It is no secret that Sergio Perez is under pressure. Since the beginning of 2023, the six-time race winner has scored almost 500 fewer points than Verstappen.

The Mexican has also failed to reach the podium in his last 13 races, with his best finish coming at the Miami Grand Prix where he finished fourth. 

And Lawson has said that beating Tsunoda is the target Red Bull have set, with the 22-year-old aiming to give Christian Horner a headache ahead of next season. 

“[The target set by Red Bull of needing to beat Tsunoda is] pretty much what I expected, they don’t want to see me going in there and seeing me outperformed for the rest of the year – but it’s always been like that,” Lawson said.

“With Yuki, we’ve been compared since we were 17 or 18 years old.

"He’s had a really good start to the season, and he’s been performing better this year than any other year but also the team has changed up a lot this year and is heading in a really great direction so it’s exciting to be part of that as well.”

“The conversations have always been in the direction of becoming a Red Bull driver in the future and that’s what I’ve said to them – that’s what I want to become, that’s why I joined the team and want to stay with them and join them in F1. 

“That’s my goal and their goal, I think, is to have drivers to replace current drivers in the future at some point.

"That’s the goal. When that could happen, I have no absolutely idea. But I know it’ll be based on how I perform in the car.”

Tsunoda currently sits 12th in the drivers' championship, claiming 22 points so far this season, with his last top 10 finish coming in Hungary back in July. 

Lawson will only have one practice to get up to speed this weekend in Austin, which is one of three sprint weekends in the final six races of the season. 

Though he has had time to prepare for this moment, saying he knew during the Singapore Grand Prix he would be replacing eight-time race winner Ricciardo this weekend. 

Lawson explained the difficulty of that particular race, but said a conversation with the Australian has stuck with him ahead of his return to the track.

“Luckily, he’s a great guy,” Lawson said. “He knew it was nothing to do with me. And that’s probably the thing with Daniel for the whole time we’ve been in this situation.

“Even for the last 12 months, it’s never felt like we were in direct competition as much as we all are in the sport in some way.

“With Daniel, it never really felt like that, he was always open to giving advice when I was driving. He was good to me throughout the year, in any way he could be.

“So, it never felt like we were in direct competition for a seat. We were also at very different point in our career, so that’s something that probably helped that.

“I went and saw him and said obviously sorry about this whole situation as it’s not nice, and sorry you had to go through it.

"But he said there’s obviously nothing against me, and he said ‘you get one shot at F1, make sure you take it’ – and he said ‘good luck’.”

Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB with Liam Lawson replacing him for the remainder of the Formula One season.

Speculation surrounding Ricciardo's future has been confirmed as the Australian's second F1 stint was brought to an end after he lost his seat at RB.

Ricciardo is 14th in the drivers' championship standings, while he recorded the fastest lap during last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix - the 258th and final race of his F1 career.

The 35-year-old has chalked up eight wins and 32 podiums along the way, notably finishing third in the drivers' championship in 2014 and 2016.

Lawson, who deputised for the injured Ricciardo in five races last season, will step up from his reserve role to partner Yuki Tsunoda for the final six races of the 2024 campaign, starting at next month's United States Grand Prix in Austin.

The 22-year-old recorded an impressive ninth-place finish in Singapore during his short stint, and RB boss Laurent Mekies feels it will be "a natural transition" for him.

"Everyone would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," Mekies said.

"He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit.

"Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track, and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it'll be a natural transition.

"It's great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step. We're looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together."

Max Verstappen said after the Singapore Grand Prix that his punishment for swearing in a news conference could speed up his exit from Formula One.

Verstappen, who finished second behind title rival Lando Norris on Sunday, has often said that he is not motivated by having a long career in the competition. 

The Dutchman has now gone seven Grand Prix without a pole position and seven without a victory, but did halt his two-race podium drought this time around. 

But Verstappen's weekend was dominated by his actions off the track rather than on it, saying the controversy could make his departure from the sport a lot quicker. 

"These kinds of things definitely decide my future as well, when you can’t be yourself or you have to deal with these kinds of silly things," Verstappen said.

"Now I am at the stage of my career where you don’t want to be dealing with this all the time. It’s really tiring.

"For me, that is not a way of continuing in the sport, that’s for sure."

On Friday in Singapore, Verstappen was ordered by race stewards to "accomplish some work of public interest" swearing while describing his car’s performance in Baku while speaking in the official pre-event news conference on Thursday.

He staged a protest against the decision by giving short answers in the official post-qualifying news conference. 

Verstappen called the penalty "ridiculous" and was backed by Norris and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

"If you can’t really be yourself to the fullest, then it’s better not to speak," Verstappen said.

"But that’s what no one wants because then you become a robot and that’s not how you should be going about it in the sport.

"You should be able to show emotions in a way. That’s what racing is about. Any sport.

"Anyone on the pitch, if they get tackled, or get pushed, or they are not happy with something or there is a frustrating moment, or something they get asked about, it’s quite normal there can be a sort of reaction."

There was also an emotional moment for Verstappen's former Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, with the Singapore Grand Prix potentially his final race in F1. 

Rumours had swirled in the build up to this weekend's race that the eight-time Grand Prix winner would be replaced at RB by Liam Lawson for the final six races of the season. 

The Australian recorded the fastest lap and was voted the driver of the day, but Ricciardo gave his clearest indication that this weekend may be the end of his career in the sport. 

Referring to his fastest lap attempt, Ricciardo said: “It was maybe just to have one last crack at doing a fast one, if it is to be it.”

Pushed on whether that meant Singapore may have been his last Grand Prix, Ricciardo replied: “Possibly, I have to acknowledge that.

"It’s been a little bit of a race-by-race situation and I would have obviously loved the weekend to have gone better. It didn’t, so I have to prepared for this maybe being it.

"I do feel, let’s say, at peace with it. 

“At some point, it’ll come for all of us… I think also, I tried to get back into Red Bull, it didn’t work out, so then I also have to say, ‘Okay, what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?’

"Let’s say maybe the fairytale ending didn’t happen, but I also have to look back on what it’s been. Fourteen or so years and I’m proud.

“I think when you’ve experienced the highs of winning, you can only fight for P10 for so long."

Ricciardo was spotted taking his time getting out of the cockpit, the Australian appearing to savour the final moments with the car after a gruelling 62-lap race.

Across his 13-year career, Ricciardo has won eight times, with his latest win coming for McLaren at the Italian Grand Prix back in 2021. 

But as he crossed the line for potentially the final time, the Australian struggled to hold back the tears. 

“A lot of emotions, because – look I’m aware it could be it, and I think it’s also just [being] exhausted after the race," Ricciardo concluded. 

"So it’s like a flood of many emotions and feelings and exhaustion.

“The cockpit is something that I got very used to for many years,” added the veteran of 257 Grand Prix starts, tearing up. “I just wanted to savour the moment.”

Daniel Ricciardo revealed his desire to experience the world of motorsport as his 13-year Formula One career hangs in the balance ahead of the 2025 season. 

Ricciardo, who has raced for five different teams in F1, is yet to find out whether he will race for RB next year. 

The Australian and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda were considered the favourites to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull until the Mexican signed a new two-year deal.

Red Bull is a team Ricciardo knows well, of course.

Ricciardo has won eight F1 races during his career, seven of which came with the Austrian-based team before his move to Renault in 2019.

Across his 257 race entries, the 35-year-old has also claimed 1,329 points and 32 podiums, but Ricciardo has been unable to get close to the top three in recent times. 

The Australian has not stood on the podium since his last victory at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, picking up just 55 points over the last three seasons for an RB team who have struggled to emerge from the midfield places in a competitive grid.

Ricciardo finds himself 14th in the drivers' championship this term, with his best finish coming at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, where he finished eighth. 

With time potentially running out on his F1 career heading into the final seven races of the 2024 season, Ricciardo kept his options open as to what may come next. 

“I mean there's things I would like to try and experience," Ricciardo said in an interview with Tourism Western Australia ahead of the release of his new film 'Drive the Dream 2.0'.

"I don't know, let's say on a competitive level, I grew up a fan of NASCAR. I'd like to drive a NASCAR. I'd love to drive around Daytona, for example.

"But would I like to compete? Yes and no, but I also know that, it's not what I grew up doing, and I'll probably get smoked so like, I don't know if I need that!

"I would love to experience it. I love motorbikes. I love MotoGP. I would love to try a MotoGP bike, but I would be very, very slow and probably horrendous. Just like, all in my own time.

"And actually Bathurst, if it's, obviously okay, it's the V8 that does the race there, but you know there's the 12 hour and stuff, so maybe that's one I could compete in.

"If a V8 team said 'hey, do you want to do a few laps around Bathurst, no pressure, just to experience it', then I'll definitely take that up."

Daniel Ricciardo admitted he thought there was a possibility he could replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull for the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Before the mid-season break, there was a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future after a difficult first half of the campaign despite him recently signing a two-year contract.

After four podium finishes across the first five races, Perez failed to finish above fourth across the next nine.

During the break, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner released a statement to confirm Perez would continue alongside Max Verstappen from this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.

Ricciardo, who races for RB, was one of the names linked with Perez's seat if he was let go, and he says he would not have turned down the move if it was a possibility.

"I didn't rule it out," he said. "I thought maybe something could happen, but I also didn't expect it or get my hopes up.

"I was aware 'maybe something changes', but I just thought: 'Do what I'm doing and if I get a call, I get a call.' I didn't get a call, but that's what I mentally prepared myself for."

Ricciardo's contract is up at the end of the year, and with Liam Lawson "certain" of being in one of the Red Bull or RB cars next year, according to team advisor Helmut Marko, the Australian could find himself without a seat in 2025.

Lawson has been on the sidelines as a reserve driver so far this season, though impressed when he filled in for Ricciardo for five race weekends last year.

The 35-year-old believes Lawson deserves his place on the team next year, but is relaxed about his own future, which is still up in the air.

"I have every opportunity in front of me and that's the beauty, it's up to me," Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1. "Yes, there is always pressure from myself and that of the Red Bull system, but I know if I do a job, I will have a seat and somewhere to race.

"I got to see Liam drive the car last year and I think he did a great job and is worthy of a seat on the grid," said Ricciardo.

"In a way, I'm happy for him. If he's guaranteed a seat on the grid next year, that's good because he is a deserving driver.

"What that means for me is probably a bit unknown, but if I perform, they will find a spot for me somewhere!"

Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.

There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.

Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.

His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.

With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.

However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.

"I am 100% sure," Perez said.

"Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.

"It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.

"Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.

"I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen claimed victory in the sprint race ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen clinched pole for the sprint in Friday's qualifying session, and capitalised on that effort to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Saturday.

The Dutchman had to see off an early push from Leclerc, but ultimately had too much.

Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, recovered from an early mistake to finish third.

Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, having fended off the challenge of both Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.

It was a bad drive for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him from eighth down to 16th.

Daniel Ricciardo said he has been assured by Red Bull that he is not set to lose his seat – but admitted if he continues to get his “arse whooped” he does not deserve to be in Formula One.

Following a troubled start to his first full season back on the grid, Ricciardo, 34, arrives for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix as a driver under pressure.

Ricciardo was handed a reprieve by Red Bull’s junior outfit, RB, midway through last season, after he was dumped by McLaren.

But he has failed to get up to speed in 2024, out-qualified by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda at every event, and without a point to his name.

He also crashed out on the first lap in Japan a fortnight ago, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner – integral in bringing him back into the fold – said here in Shanghai that Ricciardo has “under-performed” so far this season.

It has even been suggested that a failure to turn his troubling form around could see Ricciardo replaced by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson as early as the next race in Miami.

But in an interview with the PA news agency, Ricciardo said: “Everybody in the team is shutting that down. The black and white, is that I have a contract.

“However, I have to earn my spot. I don’t want these results to continue for a year, and for me to say: ‘well I should be here because it is on paper’. I am not going to be happy with that. At the end of the day, if I am getting my arse whooped I don’t deserve to be here.

“I want to get back to a place where I know I can be, and I feel confident I can get there. I am aware I have to get the results. But from my side, I am not a rookie trying to prove something or to establish myself. I do have a history in this sport. I do have a track record that says I can win.

“But if we get to December and I have not been able to extract that then maybe I will be like, ‘fine I am done with this’ or ‘I am not good enough’, but I certainly don’t feel like that in my heart.”

Ricciardo’s stock fell after two poor years with McLaren, and his career looked over when his contract was cancelled at the end of 2022. But an upbeat Ricciardo believes his troubled spell with the British team has allowed him to remain positive amid his current disappointing run.

“I went through this at McLaren and I bought into the noise because I ended up losing the belief,” he said. “I would question myself: ‘F***, maybe I have lost that edge? Maybe I can’t do it anymore?’

“But now I sit here in a different place because I do feel rejuvenated. That is why it is frustrating because in my head it makes no sense.

“If I do well here and in Miami, all of a sudden it is forgotten about. I don’t get caught up in it, but deep down, I know I have to do better.”

Ricciardo announced at his comeback race in Hungary last year that his dream is to return to Red Bull where he raced to seven of his eight career wins between 2014 and 2018.

But recent results have seen him looking over his shoulder, rather than as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez, who is out of contract at the end of the year, or even Max Verstappen, whose future with the all-conquering, but scandal-hit team, remains uncertain.

“Is it still a goal (to re-join Red Bull)? said Ricciardo. “Of course. But where I sit right now, I don’t want to talk about it because I know I have to do better.

“I am also aware that if I start talking about that, all the responses, will be like, ‘mate, focus on where you are’, which is the truth.

“And look, can anything happen in F1? Yes. But my prediction is that Max stays (at Red Bull).”

Second practice for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a damp squib as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time on a weather-affected session.

Local favourite Yuki Tsunoda and his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo were the only drivers to set lap times early on in changeable conditions, but set their times on the intermediate tyre.

The hour-long session began in rain and, although it later stopped, the track was not deemed sufficiently dry enough for most teams to send out their cars.

Piastri was one of them and his time of one minute 34.725 seconds proved fast enough to top the timesheets, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari the only others to set representative times.

Earlier, Max Verstappen set the pace in first practice as Willams endured another Friday to forget.

Reigning champion Verstappen retired in Melbourne a fortnight ago but was back at it here, his time of one minute 20.056 seconds was enough to see him go quickest at Suzuka, with team-mate Sergio Perez his closest challenger 0.181 seconds back.

A red flag halfway through the session stopped running for 11 minutes as Logan Sargeant crashed off at turn two – further adding to the Williams woes.

Sargeant sat out the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago as team-mate Alex Albon took his car after destroying his own in a practice crash and the team currently have no spare chassis.

Williams team principal James Vowles confirmed the car had suffered “extensive” damage and Sargeant was forced to sit out of second practice – although the lack of running meant there was little that would have been gained from taking part.

“It is pretty significant (damage). So the chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn’t – so the suspension around, the gearbox is cracked, big damage.

“At the top of the brow of the hill there, he struggled to see where his positioning was on track. So it fundamentally looks like he didn’t quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass.”

Albon went 12th fastest after the action restarted, while Verstappen assumed his usual position as the car to beat.

Carlos Sainz, who won in Australia last time out, was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Hamilton, while the second Ferrari of Leclerc was sixth.

Daniel Ricciardo was the surprise name at the top of the time sheet in Formula One’s first practice session of the new season in Bahrain.

The Australian – driving for the newly rebranded RB team – saw off Lando Norris by just 0.032 seconds, with Oscar Piastri third in the other McLaren.

Max Verstappen, who complained about the handling of his Red Bull throughout the one-hour practice session, finished sixth, with George Russell seventh and Lewis Hamilton ninth for Mercedes.

Verstappen heads into the curtain raiser here in the Gulf kingdom as the favourite to claim a fourth consecutive world championship.

But the Dutch driver appeared unsettled in the opening running at a gusty Sakhir circuit.

“Everything is s***,” he yelled over the radio. “Like miles off.”

Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022, but was handed a lifeline by Red Bull’s junior team midway through last season.

And although times in testing have to be treated with caution as the teams trial varying fuel loads – indeed Ricciardo set his speediest lap on the softest tyre compound – RB could prove a surprise package. Ricciardo’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth, three tenths back.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took fifth spot and was the first of the drivers not to use the soft compound. Verstappen, Russell, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who finished eighth – and Hamilton also did not post a lap on the speediest rubber.

Hamilton finished four tenths off Ricciardo, but the Mercedes camp are quietly optimistic that they could have the speed to perform at the sharp end.

At the other end of the grid, Alpine and Haas propped up the order with Nico Hulkenberg last of the 20 runners, five seconds off the pace.

The second practice session of the day takes place at 6pm local time (3pm GMT) and is more representative of the conditions the drivers will face in Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s race.

Christian Horner has left the door ajar for Daniel Ricciardo to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull next season following the Mexican’s retirement at his home grand prix.

Perez’s race lasted just 14 seconds after he crashed into Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the opening bend.

The 33-year-old had to watch Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen romp to a record 16th win of the season, while Ricciardo – who has already stated his desire to return to Red Bull – out-performed his modest AlphaTauri machinery to finish seventh after qualifying fourth.

Although Horner said it is Red Bull’s “intention” to honour Perez’s contract for 2024, he refused to confirm that the Mexican would remain with the world champions beyond this term.

Perhaps tellingly, he was also effusive in his praise for Ricciardo, lauding the Australian’s display in just his fourth comeback race as “remarkable”. It is possible that the two drivers could trade seats in 2024.

“Sergio has an agreement with us for next year and our intention is for him to be in the car in 2024,” said Horner.

“We will give him all the support he needs to ensure he finishes second in the championship.

“It was great to see Daniel perform so well and it endorses our decision to bring him back. I thought he was outstanding this weekend and if it was not for the red flag, he would have finished further up the order.

“It was a remarkable performance and he is back to his old self. He is relaxed and confident.”

Perez went for glory at the opening corner – perhaps sensing this could be his final opportunity to win on home soil – but he misjudged the move and collided with Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton took second to reduce the deficit to Perez to just 20 points in the race for runner-up in the championship.

“There is no prerequisite that if he doesn’t finish second, he is out of the team,” added Horner. “It is not as binary as that. You have to look at the circumstances.

“It was a tough moment for him in front of his home crowd and he was very emotional, but he wouldn’t be a racing driver if he didn’t go for the lead at his home race. It is a big loss for him in a car that was capable of being on the podium.

“He is a tough operator and that is why he is in the car, because mentally he has always been able to bounce back. He will brush himself down and turn it into motivation. He has the full support of the team.”

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Ricciardo won seven times for Red Bull before taking the surprise decision to move to Renault in 2019. He subsequently joined McLaren, but endured two poor years.

Ricciardo’s career looked to be over when he was dumped by the British team at the end of last season. But the 34-year-old has performed admirably – despite being absent for five races with a broken wrist – since being handed a second chance with Red Bull’s junior team. Indeed, his seventh place in Mexico was AlphaTauri’s best result of the year.

Ricciardo will be back in action at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix – the first of three concluding rounds this season.

Daniel Ricciardo is “ready to go” as he prepares to return from injury for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Australian has missed the past five races after he broke his left hand in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.

Ricciardo, who took part in a Red Bull demonstration run in Nashville last weekend, will be back in his AlphaTauri cockpit for practice at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

New Zealander Liam Lawson, who has impressed as Ricciardo’s stand-in, will make way.

He said: “It’s good to be back! My hand is much better and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it.

“I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was at full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, and got to a point where I felt ready to go.

“My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while.

“It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races, especially as I’d gotten myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit pause again, but actually, the time without racing went quite quickly.”

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Ricciardo was due to take part in only his third comeback race when he crashed in Zandvoort. He was immediately taken to the medical centre before he was transported to a nearby hospital with his left arm in a sling.

A subsequent X-ray confirmed Ricciardo had sustained a break to the metacarpal on his left hand.

Ricciardo was ruled out of the race in Holland and the following rounds in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar.

Ricciardo was handed a second chance by Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri following his dismissal by McLaren at the end of last season.

Despite his injury, AlphaTauri announced last month that they have retained the eight-time grand prix winner winner for 2024 alongside Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Daniel Ricciardo will return from injury for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Australian has missed the past five races after he broke his left hand in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.

However, the PA news agency has been told that Ricciardo, who took part in a Red Bull demonstration run in Nashville last weekend, will be back in his AlphaTauri cockpit for practice at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

New Zealander Liam Lawson, who has impressed as Ricciardo’s stand-in, will make way.

Ricciardo was due to take part in only his third comeback race when he crashed in Zandvoort.

He was immediately taken to the medical centre before he was transported to a nearby hospital with his left arm in a sling.

A subsequent X-ray confirmed Ricciardo had sustained a break to the metacarpal on his left hand.

Ricciardo was ruled out of the race in Holland and the following rounds in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar.

Ricciardo was handed a second chance by Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri following his dismissal by McLaren at the end of last season.

Despite his injury, AlphaTauri announced last month that they have retained the eight-time grand prix winner winner for 2024 alongside Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Daniel Ricciardo has said he needed to fall back in love with Formula One before taking the opportunity to return to racing with AlphaTauri.

The eight-time grand prix winner has not driven in anger since he was axed by McLaren at the end of last season, but will make a surprise return to the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix next week after replacing Nyck De Vries at Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri.

The 34-year-old Australian’s career looked to be all but over after he was deemed surplus to requirements by McLaren following two underwhelming seasons with the British team.

Ricciardo did return to Red Bull as a reserve driver, but said he needed the enforced time off to ask himself if he really did want to return to racing.

“Falling out of love with it took a hit on my confidence and of course if you’re competing in a sport where you’re trying to be the best at something, the best in the world at something, obviously you need full confidence and belief,” Ricciardo said in an interview on F1’s YouTube channel.

“When that starts to diminish a bit, your enjoyment drops a bit as well. There’s a lot of factors. Getting back to Red Bull, just the reception I had walking back into that team was in a positive way a little bit overwhelming.

“Getting back on the sim, I was a bit unsure how it was going to go, if the car would feel like it used to, if I was going to be like – for the lack of better words – ‘the old me’.

“But once I’d done a few sim sessions and started feeling like myself again it brought me back to normal Daniel where I was falling back in love and ready to go again.”

Ricciardo said attending the Super Bowl in Arizona in February reminded him of the buzz of a competitive environment, while being at his home grand prix in Melbourne and then the Monaco race helped him get the Formula One bug back.

“I’ve enjoyed these six months off and it was really good for me but the more races I started to attend, the more sims I’ve started to do, I was getting the bug back. And then jumping in the car a few days ago I thought, ‘Oh yeah’. It all felt very normal, very familiar…

“I didn’t really need to think too much about (accepting the call to return). I think being back in this family, I’m kind of going through it all again…there was no question I was going to say yes.”

Ricciardo said joining AlphaTauri for the rest of the season was like going “full circle” given he raced the team, then known as Toro Rosso, in 2012 and 2013, after starting his F1 career with HRT Racing in 2011.

AlphaTauri sit last in the constructor’s championship after the opening 10 races of the season and Ricciardo is under no illusions that he will be racing a top-end car any time soon.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “It’s a challenge for sure to jump in and try to hit the ground running. But also I guess I feel like I’ve been through a lot in the last few years where I’m not really scared of anything that’s going to be thrown my way – so I actually really do like the challenge.

“It will be a challenge but I don’t know if I’d have it any other way.”

Ralf Schumacher has told Max Verstappen to either leave Formula 1 or accept the new Sprint Race weekend format, which will debut at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 'Sprint Shootout' gets introduced this weekend and will set the grid for Saturday's Sprint Race, which means the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix is now determined by Friday's qualifying. 

It leaves just one free practice session in Baku with FP2 and 3 being replaced, and is the first of six Sprint Race weekends in 2023 after only hosting three in 2021 and 2022.

This comes after Verstappen issued a 'quit threat' if F1 continues to make race weekend changes, but Schumacher believes the championship will thrive either way. 

"The past, the present and the future have shown or will show that Formula 1 is much bigger than any individual," he told Sky Sports Germany.

"Bernie Ecclestone is also gone, and without him Formula 1 wouldn't exist - and now it’s more successful than ever.

"So Verstappen should either pack his things and leave, or just accept it as it is. I understand his attitude because there are a lot of risks.

"But still, he gets paid to do it. If he wants to go, then he has to go. Formula 1 will not perish, as much I love him."

Guenther Steiner has hailed the changes saying it is what fans want, and believes F1 could eventually keep adding the format to more race weekends. 

"I don't know if we will do it every race weekend," the Haas team principal told Reuters. "Maybe do a few more or maybe do half of the calendar - the F1 promoter will know what to do.

"At the moment, there is more demand for races [than slots available] so how can you get more races in, more competition, more racing if we cannot do more than 24 events? So just make the event double count."

Will Baku finally have a repeat winner?

In six previous races at Baku, there has been a different winner each time. Nico Rosberg won its inaugural Grand Prix in 2016, before Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and defending winner Verstappen all stood on the top step.

With two of that six no longer in F1 and Bottas now in an Alfa Romeo, chances are only three of them are in with a shot of victory. However, given Red Bull have dominated the opening three races to this season, they will be odds-on favourite to win again on Sunday.

To many, the battle will be between Perez and Verstappen with the double world champion currently 15 points ahead of his team-mate in the standings. If Red Bull wins again, then that will extend Hamilton’s winless run to 27 - his worst in F1 - after Mercedes have struggled since the start of 2022.

However, Fernando Alonso has stood on the podium in each race this season. Therefore, should Red Bull encounter any problems then maybe the Aston Martin driver will extend Baku's record. 

Charles Leclerc faces worst ever start to F1 season

Charles Leclerc's retirement in Australia means he is the first Ferrari driver since Felipe Massa in 2009 to have two DNFs in the opening three races of a season. For the other round, Saudi Arabia, he only finished seventh which leaves Leclerc 10th in the championship on six points.

It is a stark contrast to this time 12 months ago, where the Ferrari driver was leading the championship by 34 points after winning two of the opening three races. Should he fail to score a point in Baku then that will make it Leclerc's worst start to an F1 season, despite driving for Alfa Romeo in his debut year.

Championship Standings

Drivers

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 69Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 54Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 45Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 38Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) 20

Constructors 

Red Bull 123Aston Martin 65Mercedes 56Ferrari 26McLaren 12