Max Verstappen facing ban from F1 race that could reunite Ricciardo and Piastri

Yahoo

a day ago

With Max Verstappen just one penalty point away from being forced to serve a ban, Daniel Ricciardo has been floated as a shock potential replacement for Red Bull. Verstappen copped three penalty points for deliberately colliding with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix, which also saw him hit with a 10-second penalty and relegated from fifth to 10th.
The Dutch driver now has 11 penalty points over a rolling 12-month period, and if he reaches 12 he'll cop an automatic race ban. Crucially, the two penalty points he received at the Austrian Grand Prix last year will expire at the end of June, which will drop his tally down to nine ahead of the British GP in July.
If he can avoid any penalties at the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix this month, he'll manage to dodge a ban. But with the defending world champion just one point from missing a race, Red Bull bosses will be weighing up who gets a drive if Verstappen is rubbed out.
Isack Hadjar has impressed for Red Bull's junior team 'Racing Bulls' this season, and would seemingly be the first cab off the rank to replace Verstappen. New Zealander Liam Lawson is also in the team stable with Racing Bulls, but had a disastrous two-race stint with Red Bull at the start of the season.
Ayumu Iwasa and Arvid Lindblad are both in the Red Bull young drivers' pool, but Christian Horner and the team hierarchy might be keen for someone with a bit more experience. Rather than thrust a youngster into such an important seat, Red Bull could turn to a former driver with plenty of knowledge and experience.
And that's where the likes of Ricciardo and Sergio Perez come in. Ricciardo and Perez are both former Red Bull drivers who still know what they're doing in a Formula One car. The Aussie raced for AlphaTauri/RB last year before he was sacked, but has a good relationship with Red Bull team principal Horner.
As F1 correspondent Mark Mann-Bryans wrote this week: "The Australian is a favourite of Horner, who brought him back into the fold towards the end of 2023 with the then-AlphaTauri marque before taking the tough decision to drop him in favour of Lawson part-way through 2024. Bringing Riccardo back, even for a one-off race, would be a decision welcomed by plenty of fans, but the 35-year-old has distanced himself from motorsport since losing his Racing Bulls seat last year and would probably require some tempting back."
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F1 fans have also been quick to float the possibility of Ricciardo making a one-off appearance should Verstappen cop a ban. It would reunite him with compatriot Oscar Piastri in Formula One and be a huge double boost for Aussie motorsport fans.
Piastri has dominated the season so far, winning five of the nine races. He's currently leading the F1 championship by 13 points from McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Replace Verstappen for Ricciardo and we are good
— Heinze (@Heinze_LoL) June 5, 2025
Again that Redbull 2nd seat is cursed. See Tsunoda struggling. 😭They should just return Ricciardo back to it.
— #SOLLY2025 👰🏾‍♀️ (@HereIsShelloh) June 1, 2025