Dr Helmut Marko moved to put an early stop to wild rumours that Daniel Ricciardo could stay on the Formula 1 grid next year – in Sergio Perez’s place. “Ricciardo will be our third driver,” Marko said after free practice at Yas Marina. Ricciardo, 33, would take a more senior role than that of Liam Lawson, an in-house Red Bull junior. “He’s going to drive Super Formula in Japan next year and be a reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri. But not long after Marko’s announcement about Ricciardo, Red Bull backtracked by calling the comments “premature”. Then Marko said: “I said ‘if’ we take him as the third driver. “This is news that has not come from us,” Marko insisted. Marko admitted that, despite Red Bull’s successes, 2022 has been a particularly stressful season.

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