Daniel Ricciardo‘s charming personality and racing skills have made him a popular figure in the racing community. However, there was a time when the Honey Badger was sidelined because of his underwhelming on-track performance. McLaren dismissed the 34-year-old in 2022 after a dismal two years with the squad. Nevertheless, since then, the honey badger has returned to the pinnacle of motorsport. Interestingly, his current team is trying to accommodate him and help him recover from the depressing McLaren era.
During a recent conversation with Beyond the Grid Podcast, VCARB team principal Laurent Mekies said, “I would lie if I was not telling you that this increase the attention level we have, in making sure we have the right conditions around him. So we are very careful with him and he’s part of the process. He’s driving that process.”
Subsequently, the team boss also mentioned that the team had made sure that Ricciardo got a 360-degree look at the car, both inside and outside to make sure he was satisfied with it. In short, the VCARB team intends to make the most of Ricciardo’s potential. Ricciardo was looked upon with great expectation while he was at McLaren. All of that, though, could not materialize on the track. The primary reason behind this was that the Honey Badger struggled to adjust to the McLaren’s setup.
The only silver lining in Ricciardo’s tenure with McLaren was his victory in Monza. Moreover, besides the challenges Ricciardo faced in McLaren, the Australian might have felt depressed because Lando Norris eclipsed him.
Is Daniel Ricciardo receiving special care at VCARB?
It is well known that both VCARB drivers aspire to join Max Verstappen on the senior Red Bull squad. While Daniel Ricciardo has described it as his “fairy tale dream,” Yuki Tsunoda has now said that driving for Red Bull is his top priority. As a result, both drivers are eager to demonstrate their actual abilities on the racetrack.
While Yuki Tsunoda has impressed the F1 world with his skillful navigation of a sluggish car in the last few years, Ricciardo made an impression during the Mexican Grand Prix. Therefore, knowing that the audition was ongoing, both drivers were observed engaging in a significant skirmish during the season’s opening in Bahrain.
At Sakhir, with only six laps to go, Tsunoda was engaged in a fight for P12 with Hass’ Magnussen. It was at this time that the Japanese driver was told to let Ricciardo through. The team decided to take this action because they thought Ricciardo, who had soft tires, could charge for points. In the end, Ricciardo’s strategy failed, and he finished only ahead of Tsunoda.
However, what happened later caught the attention of the fans. During the cool-down lap, an angry Tsunoda dive-bombed into turn 8 to pass his teammate, but he locked up and narrowly avoided a collision. This incident then prompted Ricciardo to label Tsunoda as ‘immature.’
Hence, as things stand, team boss Laurent Mekies must handle the conflict between the two drivers. This is because the squad now aims to contend for the midfield and no longer just appears to be Red Bull’s sister team. Therefore, the team might not fare well if both of its drivers get involved in such fights.
