Daniel Ricciardo will receive a new chassis from Visa Cash App RB (RB) during the next Grand Prix weekend in China. According to Alan Permane, the Racing Director of Red Bull Racing’s sister team, this chassis would be available anyway and it has nothing to do with the disappointing start to the season of the 34-year-old Australian.
Ricciardo is having a particularly difficult start to the 2024 season so far. The Australian, who has recorded eight victories in his F1 career, was beaten by his younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first three races of this year. The difference between the teammates was enormous, especially in qualifying. However, Ricciardo has not yet been able to impress in the races and while Tsunoda has already scored six points, the score of the driver from Perth is still at zero.
The 34-year-old has appeared desperate recently and has already expressed doubts about his car. His team is now lending him a helping hand, because Ricciardo will have access to a new chassis in China, although Permane wants to emphasize that this is separate from the Australian’s performance and that this chassis was already produced anyway.
“For me, the chassis is a large piece of carbon to which we attach the suspension, attach an engine and attach a gearbox to,” Permane told Autosport.com and does not expect that Ricciardo’s problems are related to the chassis. ‘It is very unlikely that there are any performance issues with the chassis. However, a new chassis is coming and it makes perfect sense to give it to Daniel (Ricciardo, ed.), not least because Yuki (Tsunoda, ed.) is happy and feels comfortable in the car. We have no preference regarding the drivers.’
Unlikely that chassis is the problem
In the past it has sometimes turned out that drivers who noticed a problem with the chassis were right, but Permane thinks that this is not the case now. ‘Sometimes you can measure things by checking, for example, how stiff the chassis is. I say it’s unlikely because it really makes no difference performance-wise. A survival cell, as it is called in the regulations, is there to assemble the front suspension and engine and keep the driver safe.’
So I don’t see it as a performance problem and it’s certainly not something we want the drivers to change a lot. It’s a nice coincidence that we get one and there’s no point in giving it to Yuki,” Permane repeats. “It makes sense to give it to Daniel, but we are not bringing a new chassis because of his problems, I want to be clear about that. It just all works out exactly right. There is no reason why Daniel cannot drive the current car when the car is at its fastest. That is obvious. I’m pretty sure he understands that and we have to give him the fastest car possible,” Permane said.
