Formula 1: Top 5 replacement candidates for Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull Racing
By Asher Fair
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Carlos Sainz Jr., 23, is the driver who Daniel Ricciardo is set to replace at Renault Sport next season, and seeing as how Sainz Jr. is a Red Bull Racing driver who is on loan to Renault just for this season, it would make sense for him to replace Ricciardo.
Sainz Jr. drove full-time for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. In the 2017 season, he drove in the first 16 races for the team before starting his tenure at Renault early as a result of the early departure of Jolyon Palmer.
With Red Bull Racing switching from Renault engines to Honda engines in the 2019 season, it was unknown as to whether or not Red Bull Racing would be able to continue to loan Sainz Jr. to Renault beyond the conclusion of the 2018 season if they did not have a seat open for him.
Now, Sainz Jr. will most assuredly not drive for Renault next year, Red Bull Racing have a seat open for him, but will he end up driving for the team? The move would make perfect sense, but would the team want to risk a renewed rivalry between him and Max Verstappen?
Plus, Ricciardo’s seat may not end up being the only seat within the Red Bull Racing organization to be open for Sainz Jr. If a Toro Rosso driver ends up replacing Ricciardo, that would open up a seat for Sainz Jr. as well, so while he certainly has a good chance to replace Ricciardo, it’s not like Red Bull Racing are the only team for which he could possibly drive in 2019, and it’s not like Red Bull Racing have no flexibility with him, either.
Which Toro Rosso would be a good candidate to replace Ricciardo?