What Ricciardo must do to secure Red Bull return

Daniel Ricciardo enters the new F1 season knowing his fortunes havecompletely U-turned in the space of 12 months. At this point lastyear, the Australian was reeling from having been dropped byMcLaren, instead being forced to settle as third driver for RedBull. A step back onto the grid with AlphaTauri in place of Nyck deVries was a springboard to return, though even that came withdifficulties after fracturing a metacarpal in a Dutch Grand Prixpractice crash, leading him to miss five rounds. Yet Ricciardocould be Max Verstappen's next teammate at the all-dominant RedBull squad if Sergio Perez's form fails to pick up - here's whatthe eight-time Grand Prix winner needs to do to cement his positionas first-choice replacement. Keep mistakes to a minimum IfRicciardo is to have any chance of succeeding Perez alongsideVerstappen, mistakes have to be kept to a minimum. While incidentshave never been something desired by teams in F1, the dawn of thebudget cap - and the effect a crash can have on future cardevelopment - mean that any damage can lead to the end of a careerin the sport. Logan Sargeant came under pressure for Williams atthe end of last season while Haas pulled the plug on MickSchumacher's time with the team in 2022, such was the amount ofdamage costs amassed by the German. Surpassing cost damage, anyincident while under pressure battling for points will blotRicciardo's copybook and, given his time at McLaren, he can'tafford many setbacks, if any. Helping develop the new carAlphaTauri - in its new guise for the new campaign - is eager tostrengthen its ties to the Red Bull operation in order tospringboard up the midfield pecking order, led by new management inPeter Bayer and Laurent Mekies. Ricciardo can take the front footin helping develop the machinery and the team's skillset across theseason, which will help on two fronts. Firstly, the team willimprove - something needed given its struggles last term. But forRicciardo, it will be an indication that he is ready to helpstructure his side of the garage to try and cope with the onslaughtsubjected by Verstappen to his teammates in recent years. Afterall, Ricciardo is the only driver to have at least given theDutchman a run for his money since the now-three-time WorldChampion stepped up to Red Bull in 2016. Beat teammate TsunodaPerhaps the most important step in his road back to Red Bull is tobeat teammate Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver has shown steadyprogression since his rookie season, though is far from thefinished article. A brutal opinion would be that Ricciardo shouldhave no trouble in outperforming his less-experienced teammate. Butit would be foolish to disregard Tsunoda given the pace he hasshown, albeit in glimpses, behind the wheel of F1 machinery. ShouldTsunoda finish ahead of Ricciardo in the Drivers' Championship whenthe chequered flag flies in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, then theAustralian can wave goodbye to a return as Verstappen's teammate.