Daniel Ricciardo is having a difficult season so far, but the Visa Cash App RB driver says he is not worried about the future. According to the Australian, the situation looks worse than it actually is. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko would increase the pressure behind the scenes, but according to Ricciardo it won’t be too bad.
In the first races of 2024, Ricciardo has no answer to the pace of his younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda. While the Japanese managed to reach Q3 in the past three Grands Prix on Saturday, the 34-year-old from Perth did not succeed even once. However, the points will only be distributed on Sunday, but Tsunoda also manages to get a lot more out of the VCARB 01 in the races than his teammate. In Australia and Japan this even led to points, so that the Japanese now has seven points and Ricciardo is still at zero.
Ricciardo has made an impressive impression in recent race weekends and his position with the sister team is at risk, especially because the team has an excellent replacement for the Australian in Liam Lawson. However, the eight-time Grand Prix winner is optimistic and states that he is in better shape than people think. ‘Okay, it hasn’t really worked out in the first three races, but I know I don’t have to change anything. It will come,” Ricciardo told Motorsportweek.
“It’s mainly about the little things and I think I’m maybe one weekend away from everything coming together,” Ricciardo continues, before giving an example. ‘In Melbourne I was of course probably disappointed with the weekend, with not getting points and with qualifying. But when we analyzed the race, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. We had good race pace and there are some good things we are taking with us, we just have to put it all together now. And I will do that!’, said a motivated Ricciardo.
Criticism Marko
Red Bull advisor Marko has already been critical of the disappointing performances of the Australian, who hoped to replace Sergio Pérez at Red Bull in 2025. However, when asked, Ricciardo says that the Austrian is not increasing the pressure behind the scenes. “But I know what he (Marko, ed.) expects and I want exactly the same,” the 34-year-old emphasizes.
“I know that there are 24 races and if I have two good races now, the bad races will be forgotten,” says Max Verstappen’s former teammate. ‘But every race is one and three races without a result is not what he wants and it is not what the team wants to see either. Of course we all want to get results, but they don’t come through anyone’s suggestions, advice or anything else. So we just stay the course and I know it will come. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet, but I am absolutely confident that it will happen,” concludes Ricciardo.
