Daniel Ricciardo‘s hopes of a fairytale finish to his Formula One career with Red Bull could hinge on the ongoing drama engulfing the team – and how many allies he has left.

The West Australian driver returns to Melbourne for the Australian F1 Grand Prix with Red Bull-owned RB, hoping the chess pieces move in his favour for a return to the Red Bull main team.

A strong result in Melbourne and in upcoming races will certainly help, but the ongoing drama at Red Bull may work against the 34-year-old.

Ricciardo infamously walked out on Red Bull in 2018 when the team was routinely trailing Mercedes, a decision he has admitted to regretting ever since.

Since then, the Aussie has endured troubled stints at Renault and McLaren before Red Bull boss Christian Horner threw him a lifeline, first as a reserve driver with AlphaTauri [now RB] and then a regular seat in the cockpit.

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Ricciardo is currently racing with RB, Red Bull’s second team, but is  hopeful of a return to the Red Bull main team to finish his career

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Horner and Ricciardo clashed when he left in 2018, but remain good friends to this day

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Horner’s future could play a role in where Ricciardo ends up in Formula One in the coming years

While they had their clashes in 2018, they remain strong friends and allies to this day.

However Horner’s future remains shrouded in doubt because of a sexting allegation that won’t go away and reports of an increasingly fractured relationship with superstar driver Max Verstappen.

On one hand, if Verstappen walks, Ricciardo could be in the box seat to return to Red Bull to finish his career.

However, if it is Horner that exits, the Aussie may lose his biggest ally in the room and face a very uncertain future.

Horner was accused of inappropriate conduct with a Red Bull staffer, before an independent investigation cleared him.

Then a day later texts reportedly sent between Horner and the staffer were released on WhatsApp to media and F1 stakeholders.

The employee is currently stood down on full pay and is appealing the decision.

Publicly, Horner’s wife Geri Halliwell has supported her man, but she also reportedly gave him a list of rules to follow in Australia and is not attending the Melbourne Grand Prix.

And Verstappen is reportedly upset with the state of affairs and considering leaving Red Bull before his contract expires in 2028.

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Max Verstappen has won three championships with Red Bull but is reportedly exploring an early exit

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Horner’s wife Halliwell stood by her husband in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia but did not travel to Australia for the Melbourne Grand Prix

Ricciardo is thankful for all the help he has received from Horner, but knows he cannot control what happens next – except to perform on the track.

‘I think when the sport for me was kind of nearly taken away… a year ago there was no guarantee I would be back here,’ he said.

‘That kind of long vision or long-term way of thinking is just not where I’m at.

‘So right now it’s really focused on where I am. We’ve got a big task ahead. Try to do what I can there.

‘Try to kick some butt and then see where the wind takes me.’

One thing is for certain, the constant focus on the Red Bull soap opera off the track is starting to grate on Verstappen who faced around 10 minutes of grilling by media on Friday.

‘Would we have liked to have more talk about our car? Probably, yes,’ Verstappen said about the negative attention on Red Bull.

 ‘But we just try to keep on working on the performance and to keep winning.’

And he would not be drawn on his future, wanting to keep his focus squarely on securing top spot at Albert Park.

‘From what I know, everything is handled in the right way,’ he said.

‘I’m not going into any further details from that side because I don’t know more than that.

‘And I also don’t want to know because that’s not my job or my task within the team.’

Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas will include hilarious tribute to Aussie culture on his helmet for Aussie F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne

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Bottas waves to fans at the Albert Park Circuit ahead of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne