Despite securing the seat at Visa Cash App RB ahead of Liam Lawson for the 2024 season, Daniel Ricciardo has arguably failed to prove his worth. The Australian driver is far from his prime and is yet to justify his place in F1 at the moment. Since the 34-year-old’s performances have been below par recently, F1 expert Fred Ferret has made a shocking prediction. Ferret from French media L’Equipe believes that Ricciardo‘s failure to rediscover his form and be consistent might lead him to retirement.
When asked to predict Ricciardo’s future if the Australian fails to improve, Ferret replied on the most recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, “Retirement.” Following this, Ferret added, “If he’s (Ricciardo) still on his way of driving like he did in the last two races, I’d say yes [Ricciardo’s retirement].”
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— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visacashapprb) March 19, 2024
Tsunoda and Ricciardo barely had any pace difference in 2023. However, things changed in 2024 as the Honey Badger is struggling to keep up with his Japanese teammate.
In Bahrain, Tsunoda qualified in P11, whereas Ricciardo in P14. The same story followed in Saudi Arabia as well since Tsunoda entered Q3 and qualified in P9. In stark contrast, Ricciardo could only manage P14 again.
Now, since the next race is in Australia, Ricciardo would be under huge pressure to deliver in front of his home fans. Things get trickier for him as the race after Australia takes place in Japan, which is Tsunoda’s home Grand Prix.
The pressure on Ricciardo is likely to be very high as his goal is to return to Red Bull, but his recent performances do not seem to warrant him a spot at the Milton Keynes-based outfit. Alongside Ricciardo, Tsunoda will also be hoping for the same goal, having driven for Red Bull’s sister team for four years now.
How is the fight between Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo panning out?
In 2024, both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo have begun their season on the back foot. Despite having the potential, both drivers are still to score their first points after two races, majorly due to their slow challenger.
Moreover, tensions also seem to be high at the Visa Cash App RB outfit. One of the main talking points of the Bahrain Grand Prix was the argument between Ricciardo and Tsunoda over team orders. RB had asked Tsunoda to let Ricciardo through to overtake Kevin Magnussen in search of a point finish.
However, the 23-year-old declined initially. Even though Tsunoda eventually let Ricciardo through, it was already very late by then. This put both of them at a disadvantage as none of them managed to score a point.
On the other hand, Sergio Perez, whose seat Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda have been eyeing, is performing decently. The Mexican has so far had two second-place finishes behind Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. If Perez can keep this up till the end of the season, Red Bull is likely to retain him even for 2025.
