At the 2023 Sao Paolo GP, Daniel Ricciardo was disadvantaged by the FIA’s regulations when he was put a whole lap down at the restart. Ricciardo was struck by an errant wheel that came off during Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen’s crash. He came into the pits for repairs and on the next lap, the red flag was out. This left the honey badger utterly frustrated as he felt he could’ve scored crucial points for the team to beat Williams in the Constructors’ championship and bag an extra $9 million.
“There hasn’t been a race yet, there were 2 corners, the Safety Car and then the red flag. So, how can we start a lap down before the race has even begun,” explained Ricciardo to Matt Gallagher.
| Daniel Ricciardo’s pace was extremely competitive in Brazil.
He was matching the top 5 in clean air.
Post-race reaction and analysis here:https://t.co/BewgocBC15
— formularacers (@formularacers_) November 6, 2023
Under the current Concorde Agreement, F1 teams get the prize money distributed to them in accordance to their Constructors’ championship positions. Hence, Williams earned $87 million for P7 whilst AlphaTauri earned $9 million less i.e., $78 million for finishing 8th. (as per Motorsport)
Ricciardo was in a really strong position to earn points for AlphaTauri that afternoon. This meant that
Naturally, the disadvantage he faced at Brazil due to a mere technicality meant that he lost the chance to propel the team up in the Constructors’ battle. Because of this, the Australian driver was fuming.
“You know, I was nearly so angry that I wasn’t,” he added.
After promising return, Daniel Ricciardo is excited for 2024
The events of Sao Paolo left a very sour taste in Ricciardo’s mouth. As he explained, he was so distraught, he just stopped caring about it. However, it wasn’t all misery for him, though.
Ricciardo went on to praise his machinery. The AT04 was arguably the slowest car on the grid when the season began. However, the workers at their base in Faenza did a wonderful job of unlocking pace and potential from the car.
Pérez y Ricciardo se juegan mucho en 2024. #F1 #RedBull
➡️ https://t.co/eYzGDhw55N pic.twitter.com/J9FYBA1lHN
— SoyMotor.com (@SoyMotor) December 11, 2023
Given how the season had transpired before Ricciardo returned to the F1 grid, he was pretty apprehensive about the car. That being said, he revealed that the second he got into the car, he felt at one with it.
For 2024, Ricciardo has only one objective. He wants to solidify his future with the Red Bull family and a good 2024 season with AlphaTauri could mean that when 2025 comes around, he will once again be a Red Bull Racing driver once again.
