Ricciardo caught in middle as F1 rule drama erupts

Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 team RB, formerly AlphaTauri, has warned that the sport risks becoming less competitive if it elects to outlaw customer relationships between its teams.

Under new team principal Laurent Mekies, RB has taken on more customer parts and components from its sister team Red Bull Racing, with the team’s performance during pre-season testing showing significant improvement.

Alongside F1’s next overhaul of its regulations, which will come into effect for the 2026 season, several squads have called for working relationships between the teams to be banned.

Examples on the grid include RB and Red Bull’s alliance and Haas’ close ties with Ferrari.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been particularly vocal on the issue, claiming F1’s current rules concerning teamwork — especially when it includes common ownership — “aren’t fit for purpose” under the sport’s advanced cost cap.

“I don’t think they are cheating. But the rules aren’t fit for purpose,” Brown told Motorsport.com.

“There’s not another major sport that I know of where you can own two teams that compete.

“It’s not allowed in any other sport, because of political influence, and player trading. It’s for all the reasons you can think of.”

Brown also fagged examples of sporting advantages including strategy splitting, increased influence over the F1 Commission and trading staff.

In response, RB has warned of the potential consequences that could accompany changes to the regulations concerning customer parts.

According to RB, despite a cost cap being enforced, a divide remains between the top-tier, midfield and backmarker teams. They claim that this deficit would only increase if the grid was forced to design and build every race car part independently.

RB CEO Peter Bayer stated that his team’s partnership with Red Bull Racing will help them to compete in the midfield hunt this season.

“There is certainly an advantage, which we believe is very important,” he said.

“If you’re looking at the grid today, in last year’s world championship ranking, you add the points of the bottom four, they have fewer points than P6. If you add P6, less points altogether than P5.

“So I think Formula 1 as a sport needs to really consider what it wants. I think the fans and we all want to have close racing between 10 teams, not only two or three teams.

Red Bull Racing’S Sergio Perez and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo.

“To achieve that, I think you have to respect the financial reality, which today is still a fact that none of the teams are making money. And the further down the pecking order, the less money you make.”

Mekies echoed Bayer’s comments, insisting that changes to the regulations would only hurt the smaller teams.

“Why do we have these rules about part sharing? Two reasons. First, close grid,” he said.

“We feel the bottom four are quite a long way at the back and you will have only benefits to have them a bit closer.”

He continued: “The second aspect is sustainability and business model. Again, everybody’s putting money into the business and we are in a fantastic moment for Formula 1 — fans at the top, audience at the top, everything, and it’s still an exercise that is difficult to make money with.

“So do you want to change now on that very nice moment, disregarding what will happen in the next four, six years? That’s how we feel about it.

“We need to be careful not to misinterpret team-specific, short-term concerns into long-term, crucial objectives for the sport.”

Red Bull has owned the skeleton of the RB team since the end of 2005, originally using it as a junior team to develop younger drivers.

RB finished at the back of the field last season but is targeting triumphs over the likes of McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin in 2024.

The revamped RB squad showed promise during testing in Bahrain with Ricciardo’s lap times turning heads in particular.

After finishing fourth quickest on day one of testing in Bahrain with a hot lap of 1:32.599, Ricciardo backed up with fifth fastest on day two, clocking 1:31:361.

The 34-year-old was a lot slower on day three but completed 70 laps to stage a race simulation.

The season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday, March 3 (AEDT).