Daniel Ricciardo is not ready to give up on the upgraded RB Formula 1 car. After a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix, Ricciardo expressed his confusion with the poor results, describing them as “really strange”. Despite bringing a heavily revised F1 car to Barcelona, RB had to lower expectations of surpassing Aston Martin in the midfield. However, issues with the RB F1 car became apparent during practice, leading both Ricciardo and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda to be eliminated in Q1 of qualifying. Ricciardo managed to improve to 15th place in the race, but it is far from a positive result. He felt comfortable behind the wheel but believes the car lacks the necessary performance and failed to fully capitalize on the new upgrades. Despite the disappointing weekend, Ricciardo remains optimistic and plans to analyze the race data in the coming days. With the races at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone approaching, there is a sense of urgency to address the issues faced by RB. While reverting back to the previous car may seem like an easy solution, Ricciardo believes it is too early to make such a drastic decision.
“I believe the temptation may exist for a maximum of 72 hours,” he stated.
“If we are still uncertain or do not have a clear answer, then maybe we should consider temporarily returning.”
However, I am not ready to resort to that option yet. Once we have thoroughly discussed everything, if we still find ourselves in the same situation, then that question may arise.”
Team principal Laurent Mekies shares Ricciardo’s perspective, acknowledging that it was a disappointing weekend for RB.
“Despite the narrow margins, we will not make excuses for our lack of competitiveness,” he expressed.
Mekies is focused on looking forward and guiding the team out of their current struggle.
“Looking at the positive aspects, we conducted extensive tests on both cars to gather as much data as possible,” he explained.
“Now, our entire team faces the challenging task of progressing in the limited time available before we return to the Red Bull Ring.
“This is a long season and challenging weekends are expected.
“We must leave this behind, remain optimistic, and focus on immediately recovering in Austria in a few days.”
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