Things are currently not looking great for Daniel Ricciardo, and recent comments from a top Red Bull advisor have added to his troubles.
Daniel Ricciardo has been told that it’s time for him to “find a breakthrough soon.”
The Australian racer’s beginning to the 2024 Formula 1 season has been underwhelming, highlighted by a disappointing performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday morning.
Following a lackluster qualifying round on Saturday that saw him bow out in Q1, Ricciardo wasn’t a contender in the race.
His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, has outperformed Ricciardo in both qualifying sessions this year.
Performances in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain haven’t helped Ricciardo’s aspirations to join the primary Red Bull team in 2025.
Instead, Ricciardo finds himself under increased scrutiny to keep his spot, with New Zealander Liam Lawson eyeing a permanent place on the grid.
Helmut Marko, a key figure at Red Bull, has publicly urged Ricciardo to extract more performance from his RB VCARB 01 car.
“There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel,” Marko, Red Bull’s senior adviser, wrote in a column for Speed Week.
“Yuki’s qualifying performance was very good and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”
“Where there is work: At least Tsunoda is very good in qualifying, then they are at the top of the World Championship points in the first stint, only to fall further and further behind afterwards. You cannot maintain the speed in the long term. Whether they are putting too much strain on the tires or there are other reasons is what you need to find out.”
Post-race revelations from Jeddah disclosed Ricciardo was hampered by a pit stop error exceeding 40 seconds.
Still, this doesn’t clarify the perplexing spin on Lap 49 out of 50, where he lost control at a chicane without apparent reason.
This incident, which left Sky Sports commentators Simon Lazenby and Karun Chandhok in shock, expecting a collision had occurred, further dims Ricciardo’s chances of moving up to the senior Red Bull team in 2025.
