Daniel Ricciardo will need to recover from a disappointing start to the 2024 season if the 34-year-old driver wants to keep his hopes of joining Red Bull alive. Ricciardo, who made a surprising return to the F1 grid with AlphaTauri in mid-2023, aims to return to Red Bull in 2025. However, the Australian driver had a lackluster start to the 2024 season, with two unsatisfactory results. Now, former F1 world champion Alan Jones has expressed concerns about Ricciardo’s future prospects.
Jones acknowledged that Ricciardo was in a challenging situation, as he was outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first two races. The 77-year-old driver urged his compatriot to improve his results and put on an impressive performance in the upcoming races. Jones emphasized that the 8-time race winner cannot afford to be stuck in the middle of the F1 pack.
Furthermore, the former F1 champion admitted that, in his opinion, Ricciardo’s best days in Formula 1 are behind him. The 77-year-old driver pointed out that Ricciardo had driven several competitive cars throughout his career. Jones believed it was crucial for Daniel Ricciardo to stand out from his competitors to secure his future in the sport.
Ricciardo had two disappointing seasons with McLaren in 2021 and 2022. The 34-year-old driver attributed his below-par results to the characteristics of the car used by the Woking-based team. As a result, the 8-time race winner agreed to part ways with the team before the end of his contract.
Alan Jones argued that Daniel Ricciardo cannot repeatedly blame the car for his disappointing performances. The 77-year-old driver emphasized that this trend has been recurrent for the 34-year-old driver, especially during his time at McLaren. Ricciardo had cited faults in the VCARB01 for his mediocre performance at the Saudi Arabian GP this season.
Certainly, Daniel Ricciardo remains determined to return to a top team in F1. However, the 34-year-old driver is currently at a disadvantage after two disastrous rounds. Consequently, Ricciardo will be looking to turn the situation around in the upcoming races to once again prove his worth. It remains to be seen if Ricciardo will be able to achieve a satisfactory result in his home race this weekend.
