The run of poor performances continues for Daniel Ricciardo in 2024. The Visa Cash App RB driver got knocked out in Q1 of the Qualifying session at the Australian GP – his home race weekend. Meanwhile, his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, made it through to Q3 and secured P8 as his starting position. Despite starting 10 places behind his teammate, Ricciardo was more confused than frustrated. Formu1a.uno quoted the 34-year-old as he remained defiant about something being wrong with his car that led to a poor outing.
Per Ricciardo, he was happy with the lap he did, but the case wasn’t the same as what the stopwatch reflected. For him, things aren’t adding up in his head to where they should be. He added that he has done enough of laps around the circuit to know where he is.
“I was happy with the lap, but I wasn’t happy with where we are in terms of the stopwatch. For me, that still isn’t adding up in my head to where it should be. That lap was all I had, and it was still slower. So yeah, I’ve done enough of these laps to know where I am, and there’s still some things where I think we’re missing.”, said Ricciardo.
The Honey Badger added there is no particular element where he is struggling with the car. Hence, he remains skeptical of what the timing sheets say. Besides being a “chunk slower” in some corners, Ricciardo doesn’t see anything else that would lead to slow lap times.
Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, has had very little to complain about his car. The Japanese driver has outperformed his Australian counterpart every step of the way in 2024. After the first three Qualifying sessions of 2024, he is 3-0 in the head-to-head comparison against Ricciardo. Given the same, Tsunoda currently stands as the fastest driver at V-CARB’s disposal.
Helmut Marko calls out Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda
Despite Tsunoda consistently outperforming Ricciardo and making it to Q3 for the second time this season, Helmut Marko is not a happy man. Per Crash.net, their early season performances have drawn criticism from Marko. The 80-year-old claimed that of the two V-CARB drivers, Ricciardo was the slower one, “So far, Ricciardo is a bit behind.”
However, this doesn’t mean happy times for Tsunoda, as Marko claimed his speed was “okay.” He added that in a race setting, both the drivers are “too slow.”
Referring to the lack of race pace, Marko said a point was possible for V-CARB in each of the first two races of 2024. They had opportunities to earn a points finish, but mistakes from both drivers meant they came home empty-handed. Hence, Marko called for improved decision-making from the team.
Heading into the main race on Sunday, Ricciardo will be under added pressure. Given it is his home race, the 34-year-old needs to put on an impressive show. Furthermore, after a poor start to the season, his future at Red Bull is starting to look bleak, especially given Sergio Perez’s strong start to 2024.
