Daniel Ricciardo has not had the best of starts to his 2024 season. Just two races in, the Australian driver is facing immense criticism for not being up to the mark against Red Bull prodigy Yuki Tsunoda. Last year, Ricciardo was quite vocal about wanting to return to his former team for a “fairytale” finish to his career. However, to earn the coveted return to Red Bull, the 34-year-old needs to beat Tsunoda convincingly and lead the Visa Cash App RB team to better performances. For now, that is not happening and the F1 world is turning against him for his underperformance. The Honey Badger has reacted to this criticism, citing that he knows what he needs to do.
As quoted on Twitter (now X) by user Junaid, Ricciardo said, “I know my position within the team, and the potential if I do well. It’s always our objective to do the best we can – my objective is to drive this car as best I can. I’m not looking too far ahead.”
The Aussie highlighted that he is not too fussed about the prospect of his Red Bull return. For now, he only wishes to focus on his performance at V-CARB. He said, “Once we get caught up in those things, it takes away from the job at hand, driving the car fast.”
However, the future prospect is something Ricciardo will have at the back of his mind. Many experts cited that the #3 driver has not returned to F1 to drive for a lower midfield team like RB (formerly AlphaTauri).
Therefore, Ricciardo needs to take things into perspective and start delivering better. While he may look to keep things simple and just focus on his performance, as things stand, his on-track exploits have little to note about.
Is it too early to write off Daniel Ricciardo?
While it has only been two races in the 2024 season so far, Daniel Ricciardo has not been in the best of form against Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver outqualified him by a significant margin in Jeddah and had a much better and more competitive race. One can say that the Honey Badger faced issues with his pit stop and was not able to recover lost time.
However, his overall pace was not on Tsunoda’s level. Add to that, a spin in the concluding laps of the Grand Prix, and as a result, the eight-time race winner received a lot of flak for delivering below expectations.
Many would not expect an experienced campaigner like him to struggle like he has. The 34-year-old would hope that the Australian GP bodes well for him, as the Perth-born driver returns to compete at his home race after missing out last year.
Ricciardo has highlighted that he hopes to kickstart his season in a better way in Melbourne. Avoiding criticism and shouts of him being “past” his prime, the Aussie wants to show that he belongs in F1.
