Johnny Herbert: ‘Ricciardo has to blow Tsunoda away to secure Red Bull seat’

There were pleasing aspects to the British Grand Prix. One was Alexander Albon’s drive to eighth for Williams. I saw Alex as he was leaving the circuit on the Sunday night and he said how easy the car is to drive. You can chuck it around like a kart, it doesn’t break away from you, which means you can be quite aggressive with it. That shows when you watch it on track. You can actually slide the car, which shouldn’t work with ground effects – but it does. Alex is racing smart, making some great moves and he’s not easy to overtake. He also feels very confident and comfortable within the Williams home, and that’s important. The bounce-back after his difficult times at Red Bull means he is now starting to blossom.

I was sceptical whether James Vowles was the right person to have at the helm of Williams, but he talks in a very smart way. It’s early days but there are some very positive signs, which is great for all of us. I’ve always had a soft spot for Williams, going back to Frank and Patrick Head because they were old-school racers, and for me that spirit hasn’t gone away. It’s a team that still has that historic vibe.

“Lando is a McLaren driver until 2025, but chances may arise”

Then of course there were the performances from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren. Whenever you make a better car, bang, people like Verstappen, Hamilton, Senna, Prost and Häkkinen raise their game to match it. That’s the rare ability we look for and we saw a bit of that in Lando and Oscar at Silverstone. When the car performance went up they went with it. That’s a really positive thing. We’ve seen how Aston Martin was best of the rest this season and how that’s fallen away. We’ve seen Ferrari have little spikes. Mercedes is a bit of a yo-yo as well. The pack behind the Red Bull is inconsistent and is swapping around all over the place, so that’s where you have to capitalise on your chances when they come – and Lando and Oscar pulled that off.

Once again Lando puts himself in the frame if there are opportunities elsewhere, potentially at Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, also Aston Martin and incoming Audi. For all he should be on the tip of their tongues. Norris is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2025. My only concern is certain opportunities may come up before then, so will he be able to take them? I know from my own career, when you make a long-term contract, as I did at Lotus, it can stop you from taking up other chances, which don’t come up often.

The fall of Nyck de Vries is confusing. We know how good he’s been coming through the ranks, right from his karting days. He’s always been able to impress and do the job, and now he’s faltered. Previously at AlphaTauri, we had Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda – and it was Pierre on top almost all the way. So the expectation was that Nyck would jump in and take over from Pierre, and that wasn’t the case. The performances were lacklustre, but also there were too many mistakes. That was a real shock to me. You put it all together, including an impatient Helmut Marko, and it came to a point where enough was enough. They always said Silverstone was the mark they were giving him to. Some say he should have been given more of a chance, but this sport is brutal.

Now Daniel Ricciardo is in, and it will be fascinating to see how that pans out. Verstappen said Daniel was impressive when he tested the Red Bull, but the proof is in the pudding. Yes, it’s only an AlphaTauri against Tsunoda, but the spotlight will be on him after his difficulties with McLaren. The team was fortunate to have him as an option.

In my head I don’t know why you’d want to stand around in the paddock. Once I was done, I was done. But in his head Daniel is clearly not done and now he has a chance to prove it. He will be one of many eyeing Sergio Pérez’s seat in the second Red Bull. Let’s be clear, he’s only doing this for one reason. But you have to wonder, if this chance hadn’t come up, and at some point Red Bull had decided to make a change with Pérez, would they have said ‘Daniel, you’re in’? I’d say probably not. Then again, if there wasn’t another option, perhaps it could have happened. Now, with Daniel getting back in a car to race, it’s got to work – because if it doesn’t he’s done. If he wants Pérez’s seat, Ricciardo has to blow Tsunoda away. We have to be wowed and the pressure is on.

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Johnny Herbert was a Formula 1 driver from 1989-2000 and a Le Mans winner in 1991. He is a regular contributor to Sky Sports F1
Follow Johnny on Twitter @johnnyherbertf1