Sergio Perez: Daniel Ricciardo's return to Red Bull doesn't change anything for me

Sergio Perez claims Daniel Ricciardo's return to Red Bull won't change the team's plans for him in 2023 and beyond. The former Red Bull man is set to return to the Milton Keynes-based team in 2023 but will take on the role of a third driver.

Sergio Perez is to stay with the Austrian team at least till the end of 2024 and claims to not feel any kind of pressure due to Daniel Ricciardo's return. The Honey Badger was forced to leave McLaren after two dismal years with the Woking-based squad. The Australian driver was unable to adjust his driving style to suit that of the McLaren car and was hence dropped for Oscar Piastri - who will join the Papaya team next year. Perez certainly knows what it is like to be out of a racing seat as the driver managed to clutch a seat with Red Bull at the end of 2020.

Despite rumors of Daniel Ricciardo's arrival meaning the end of Perez's future with Red Bull, the Mexican has no worries at the moment. He told Sky Sports F1:

"I'm very relaxed. We live under a lot of pressure all the time – it doesn't change anything from my side. I think it's a great achievement for the team to have a driver like Daniel. He's going to contribute a lot to our team. He's a great guy, he's one of the guys I get on the most [with] in the paddock. It's great to have Daniel in the team, and from my side [it] doesn't change anything."

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Sergio Perez will learn a lot from the 2022 F1 season, claims Red Bull boss

According to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Sergio Perez will learn a lot from the best season of his career. The Mexican finished the season in P3 in the drivers' championship, falling just narrowly short of the second position that was secured by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Perez had his best year to date in the sport, having scored two victories and his first-ever pole position. Overall, the season was quite impressive for the Mexican, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner feels that it will help him in the long run. Talking about the battle for P2 that the Mexican lost, Horner was quite pragmatic in his view and admitted that Charles Leclerc was probably just too unlucky this season. Speaking to motorsport-total.com, Horner said:

"You have to look at the season as a whole. And I think both Checo and Charles will regret missed opportunities, and for Charles it was a few more than for Checo. You have to look at the performance over a year, not a single race, and Checo had the best year he's ever had in Formula 1."

He concluded:

"I think he's going to take a lot of positives with him. It's the first time he's finished in the top three in this championship and I think he will learn a lot from this year as well."

It will be interesting to see whether Sergio Perez can mount a sustained championship challenge in 2023.