Sacked or promoted – why Ricciardo now faces two F1 career extremes

Daniel Ricciardo is heading into what could be the most important week of his Formula 1 career.

How he performs in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix and next week in Belgium will not only decide his life after the summer break but could well end with outcomes that are at the extremes.

Should the next two races go wrong, then he could find himself being dropped by his current RB team and that potentially being the end of his life as a grand prix driver.

But, if circumstances continue as they have so far in Hungary this weekend, then he could even now find himself promoted to the main Red Bull squad.

With increasing doubts over Sergio Perez’s future amid his ongoing struggles, there was probably no better time for Ricciardo to top Q1 at the Hungaroring and deliver a strong qualifying performance on an afternoon when team-mate Yuki Tsunoda also crashed out.

The situation surrounding Perez is incredibly complex because, if Red Bull elects to replace the Mexican should his performance not improve before the summer break, then there is not an obvious favourite candidate to slot in.

Its three main options – Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson – all have their pros and cons.

The only certainty right now is Red Bull getting increasingly frustrated by Perez’s situation.

Having said after the British Grand Prix that Perez’s lack of points scoring was “unsustainable” over the long run, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner seemed even less happy with things after the Mexican’s Q1 crash at the Hungaroring.

Speaking about how patient the team could be, Horner said: “Discussions like that happen internally, rather than through media. But obviously we can’t run one-legged.”

When speculation over Perez’s future erupted a few weeks ago, the most logical choice to slot in at the time was the team’s reserve driver Liam Lawson.

The New Zealander has been on the sidelines this year, but has a strong pedigree and has done a lot of work in the simulator for the team. He was also evaluated in an RB20 test at Silverstone recently, where it is understood he did enough to show he had the potential needed to step up.

His chances were also boosted by the fact that Ricciardo’s season had not produced everything hoped for, with the Australian failing to find consistently strong performances.

But Ricciardo has been doing better more recently and, having…