After missing almost the first half of the 2023 season, Daniel Ricciardo returned to F1 with AlphaTauri (now Visa Cash App RB). Since his arrival, the junior Red Bull team has witnessed an uptick in performance. Crediting his experience for the positive development, the Australian has reflected on the power he wields.
Speaking with The Age (as quoted by SpeedCafe), Ricciardo said, “I’ve been in F1 a long time, driven a lot of cars, seen a lot of things. My knowledge… I probably underestimated that. The team was struggling a bit at the time, and I could see that my experience was helping. The way the team responded to what I had to say, the questions they asked… I grew to really enjoy that aspect of it.”
Daniel Ricciardo’s lid for the forthcoming Australian GP, designed by artist Rosie Pettenon. What a beautiful looking thing this is (as well as being an enormous improvement on his default design for this year)! #F1 pic.twitter.com/24n1231MuF
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) March 19, 2024
Ricciardo’s years of Grand Prix-winning experience and the ability to guide the development path are among the reasons why Red Bull chose to station him at AlphaTauri. Another reason is to prepare him to potentially replace Sergio Perez in case the Mexican driver continues to struggle this year.
While Perez has managed to find his feet, Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) have benefited immensely from Ricciardo’s experience. The team took giant strides in developing the car towards the end of 2023.
That momentum has carried over to 2024 as well. V-CARB may not have scored any points until now, but they have come close and look to be on the right path. Unfortunately, Ricciardo hasn’t hit the ground running on the track.
While he came close to finishing in the points-scoring position in Bahrain, the outing in Jeddah was a forgettable one. The Honey Badger spun around toward the end of the race, which shows that mistakes are creeping in. Surely, this does not look good for his ambition to rejoin Red Bull in 2025.
Will Red Bull sack Daniel Ricciardo?
The 2024 season has just begun with only two races having concluded. Despite that, rumors suggest that the Red Bull management might be growing impatient with Daniel Ricciardo. Helmut Marko’s comments haven’t done any good to dissipate these speculations either.
Marko, in his race analysis, as quoted by Speedweek, said, “There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki [Tsunoda] and Daniel. Yuki’s qualifying was very good, and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”
Marko then added, “At least Tsunoda is very good in qualifying. Then they are in the points in the first stint, only to fall further behind afterwards.”
: Helmut Marko has issued a warning to Daniel Ricciardo after two Grands Prix, expressing dissatisfaction with the Australian’s performance. Marko stated that Ricciardo needs to “come up with something soon” as he has not been convincing in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Ricciardo’s… pic.twitter.com/ToDHL6spRG
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) March 12, 2024
Meanwhile, former Benetton boss Eddie Jordan has urged Ricciardo to pull up his socks. The 75-year-old, speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, cautioned the Australian against the possibility of losing his V-CARB seat while he aims to earn a promotion to the senior team.
Ricciardo arguably has until the end of the season to prove his worth to the bosses at Red Bull. Otherwise, this second chance might prove to be his last. Both Ricciardo and his wide fanbase would hate that to happen.
