Daniel Ricciardo has received a major sign of endorsement from RB team principal Peter Bayer amid early season rumours Liam Lawson was set to take his seat.
The Kiwi impressed in his five outings last season when Ricciardo was out injured, even finishing ninth in the Singapore Grand Prix.
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But having competed in five races, Lawson cannot be involved in any free practice sessions.
It left Lawson, who is now a reserve driver for both Red Bull and its sister team, sidelined and eagerly awaiting a drive.
For a moment it looked like Lawson would be catapulted into a seat quicker than he thought as whispers of a sensational swap between him and Ricciardo emerged amid the latter’s slow start to the season.
But Ricciardo’s fourth-place finish in the sprint race in Miami showed the Australian still has plenty of pace left in him.
Ricciardo has also improved with each race since Miami, finishing 13th and 12th at Imola and Monaco respectively.
With the Aussie slowly but surely finishing further up the grid ad Yuki Tsunoda constantly scoring points, Bayer moved to remove any doubt Lawson could bump Ricciardo out of his seat this season.
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“Liam is an extremely valuable member to the team,” Bayer told media in Monaco.
“He’s with us every weekend, obviously. He’s doing a lot of work in the simulator, but currently we have two drivers in the cars.
“We are finding performance with the two, and we really do not discuss the 2025 situation, perhaps because we’re in a luxury situation of having that strong grassroot pyramid behind us.
“And so the focus is really on track and on the next couple of races until definitely the summer break.”
As it stands, there will be three seats up for grabs within Red Bull’s two teams as only Max Verstappen is contracted beyond the 2024 season, so there’s still every chance Lawson may land himself a spot on the team next year.