Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian driver of the F1 team RB, rejected the idea that his struggles in 2024 are similar to his previous struggles with McLaren. Ricciardo joined McLaren in 2021 with high expectations, but failed to keep up with his teammate Lando Norris and was ultimately released after the 2022 season. Given a second chance with Red Bull’s sister team, Ricciardo was hoping for a strong start with the revamped RB team this year. However, he consistently qualified behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first three races and has yet to score points, with his best finish being 12th place.
Despite being puzzled by his performance compared to Tsunoda in Melbourne, Ricciardo remains optimistic that his struggles are not the same as his time at McLaren. He acknowledges the need to improve his downforce and rear grip, but also highlights his difficulties in high-speed corners in Melbourne and Saudi Arabia. Although the team made adjustments to address the issues in Saudi Arabia, the problem persisted in Melbourne, especially in Turns 9 and 10. Ricciardo emphasizes the importance of staying focused and not letting outside advice distract him from working with his engineers.
During the break between races, Ricciardo and his engineers carefully examined the VCARB 01 chassis to ensure there were no significant issues. They made changes after the race in Saudi Arabia and plan to make additional adjustments for the next race in China. The team wants to make sure everything is in order and that they have not overlooked any potential problems. Ricciardo acknowledges that he feels a bit behind compared to last year, despite having better preparation and more experience with the car and the team. The goal is to eliminate any factors that may be affecting his performance and that are beyond their control.
Asked about the issue of requesting a new chassis, Ricciardo stated: “I definitely addressed this. Just, once again, to make sure.
“In the past, there has been a slight variation. I’ve been in Formula 1 for a long time, but you can find some differences.
“So, that was certainly something I brought up the possibility, if I’m still struggling before being simply told that I’m terrible, let’s at least address this and put everything to rest.”
RB has an updated floor for this weekend’s race in Suzuka, in an attempt to maintain sixth place in the championship, but Ricciardo warns that this will bring minimal improvements.
“We’re not underestimating it, but this is a small addition,” he advised.
“It’s not something that will revolutionize the car, but it’s a little here and there, so that will be nice and we have a few more things on the way for the upcoming races.
“Every little improvement helps and matters, and in the midfield battle we’re involved in, if this gives us half a tenth, it’s something we’ll gladly accept.”
