Daniel Ricciardo has been overlooked for Red Bull Racing's no.2 driver's seat after the team opted to retain struggling Sergio Perez for the rest of the season.
Ricciardo was thought to be the frontrunner to partner Max Verstappen if any changes to the driver line-up were made.
The Sporting News has all the latest on the Australian's F1 future.
MORE: Full results, standings from 2024 Belgian Spa Grand Prix
Daniel Ricciardo misses out on Red Bull seat, Sergio Perez retained
Despite speculation Ricciardo or Liam Lawson were going to replace Perez, Red Bull Racing have backed the Mexican for the rest of 2024.
"Checo (Perez) remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of late. We look forward to seeing him perform on circuits where he has done well before after the summer break," Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said on Monday, as reported by De Telegraaf.
The statement of intention means Perez is likely locked in as Red Bull Racing no.2 until the end of the season, but Ricciardo could still be in with a chance for the seat in 2025.
Why Daniel Ricciardo was favourite to rejoin Red Bull Racing
Ricciardo looked set for a second stint at Red Bull Racing alongside three-time championship winner Max Verstappen after he was seen getting in a helicopter with the Dutch star after the Belgian GP.
Reports suggested Red Bull Racing will meet on Monday to discuss its driver line-up for the rest of the season and 2025 with Perez's future looking increasingly bleak at the time.
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo leaving SPA together in a heli. Tomorrow there is an important meeting between Helmut Marko and Christian Horner about Checo's future.
— Marc | Formula 1 🏎 (@433_marc) July 28, 2024
Is this just a coincidence, or is this the new RBR lineup from Zandvoort onwards? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/e7Eot775bY
Prior to his departure from the Spa-Francorchamps race track, Ricciardo was seen smiling while in discussions with Horner.
Daniel Ricciardo was seen talking to Christian Horner and Laurent Mekies after the race
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 28, 2024
[@DAZN_ES] pic.twitter.com/iQhwIbvzZg
Ricciardo has had a solid season for RB F1, picking up 12 points including one for placing 10th in Belgium.
He also finished higher than his RB F1 team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in four of the past six races.
Who else was contending to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing
New Zealand's RB F1 team test driver Liam Lawsonwas reported to be the other contender if Red Bull Racing chose to replace Perez.
It had been reported Red Bull Racing had organised a meeting on Monday to mull over Perez's future.
Why Sergio Perez future is in doubt at Red Bull Racing
After signing a two-year contract extension in June, Perez has struggled to compete in the six races since.
The Mexican has a highest finish of seventh, on three occasions, since the new deal with Red Bull Racing was announced.
He also finished 8th in Spain, 17th in Great Britain and was forced to retire in Canada.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko confirmed to Sky Sports that Perez's future would be discussed this week.
“Sergio had the opportunity to take a good result from second place. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Marko said post-race at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Especially in the last stint, he completely collapsed.
“What looked so positive in qualifying unfortunately didn’t materialise in the race.
“Of course every result is [important] for Sergio, and eighth place from second on the grid is certainly not what we expected.
“For us the situation is such that we will also go through the overall situation for 2025.
“We have a number of drivers and we have a concept.”
Daniel Ricciardo's first stint at Red Bull Racing
Ricciardo first joined Red Bull Racing in 2014 to race alongside Sebastian Vettel.
The Aussie raced with the team until the end of the 2018 season, finishing third in the drivers championship twice (2014, 2016) and winning seven races.
Verstappen became Ricciardo's team-mate in 2016 and still remains at the team in 2024, having won the past three drivers championships.
