It’s almost been five years since Daniel Ricciardo has been struggling on the track. This continued misery has seriously hampered his stock in the sport. So much so that there are rumors of him not securing a drive for 2025. However, his current team is not giving up on the Australian. Laurent Mekies believes he still possesses the talent but is just misfiring on the track.
The V-CARB boss shared this opinion in a conversation with F1 journalist Lawrence Barretto. He said, “We are for sure putting everything behind him to make it work. What we do is we do everything we can every single day to say, ‘Okay, what can we do?’ We know there is potential there.”
He also confessed the team is using the same approach as Yuki Tsunoda. They’re doing everything to make sure Ricciardo is performing at the highest level. They’re making sure he has the right car and environment to perform at the level everyone knows he’s capable of. The French boss admitted they have had this approach since day 1 and they will till the last race.
It was evident in China as the Australian asked for a new chassis and V-CARB obliged. Since then, his performances have been better. Sadly, he was forced to retire from a points-scoring position in China. However, Canada was a positive weekend for the Honey Badger and a perfect reply to his critics.
Daniel Ricciardo gives Jacques Villeneuve a perfect reply after his scathing remarks
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve was part of the Sky Sports F1 roster for the Canadian GP. The 1997 champion made some harsh remarks about Daniel Ricciardo, claiming that the Aussie has lost his drive and is just occupying a seat based on his rapport in the sport and not his performances.
Some considered his statement a bit out of line. However, he got a reply instantly during the qualifying and race. The eight-time Grand Prix winner went fifth fastest in the race which was an incredible achievement with his V-CARB-01.
Ricciardo kept up the good pace showcased all weekend by finishing in eighth. In fact, he could’ve easily finished much higher if it wasn’t for the harsh jump-start penalty that he took during his pitstop. Ricciardo proved he still has what it takes.
However, the criticism surrounding him was always about consistency and not talent. So even though he proved the 1997 champion wrong in Montreal, the 34-year-old needs similar results most weekends to earn his lost respect. This could be the case as he admitted, he will not give anyone who doubts him the time of the day.
