The return of Ricciardo to Red Bull could spark up issues with Verstappen and Perez once again. Can the team contain what could come its way?
Being in a team is always about working together, but with Ricciardo making a return to Red Bull, tensions and issues could rise with Verstappen and Perez once more.
As we slowly head towards the month of February, racing and Formula 1 fans will be eagerly anticipating the coming 2023 race calendar and, of course, for gamers this means some tweaks and new cars to drive as later next month F1 teams will be showcasing their new variants and there is a particular buzz surrounding Mercedes new type W14, given the issues they had with the W13 that led to such a dramatic fall in grace from their usual, dominant, position.
That is absolutely not the only story that will dominate the 2023 calendar though, fans can more than expect further controversies between drivers and not least further FIA rule changes that cause consternation as the months tick by – and there will obviously be plenty of discussion about new manufacturers like Audi joining.
With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen running away with his second F1 title in 2022, Sergio Perez finished in third place but there were well publicised issues between the two of them over the previous racing months, and many expect that those tensions will simply flare up again, especially as Perez now has the returning Daniel Ricciardo to contend with this year as he joins them, at least initially, as the third driver for 2023. From a press perspective, the fall out could be a Big Bass Bonanza on headlines.
Speaking recently about the return of the Australian eight time grand prix winner, former F1 driver David Coulthard told the BBC that Perez needed a ‘software update’ to match his Red Bull team mate moving forward, and that their would be a clear threat posed to him by Ricciardo.
“Checo (Perez) will see that there is a real substitute driver there. For Checo to look at how many victories Max had and how many he had (15 wins to two), it’s not like he is just having to polish a few corners. This is a major rewrite, a software update. If you use the same ingredients in the cake you will get the the same cake. You need to change it if you want something different.”
Coulthard did go on to say that if Perez wanted the opportunity to be the best, then all the tools and information were there for him to really step up and do just that – but if he does take full advantage of that, given his spats with Verstappen last year where Max refused to let him pass in his own battle for second place in the penultimate race in Brazil, you would not have to be much of a gambler to see that if Perez started matching
