Just two races into the 2024 F1 season, pressure is already mounting on Daniel Ricciardo, with Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko urging the Aussie to significantly improve his performance.
Ricciardo's struggles in the rebranded RB F1 car have become a growing concern. After a disappointing 13th place finish in Bahrain, his performance in Saudi Arabia proved even more frustrating, with a lowly 16th place finish.
On both occasions he was outqualified and outraced by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Last summer, as Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver, Ricciardo was entrusted with Nyck de Vries’ seat at AlphaTauri following the Dutchman’s disappointing results.
Unfortunately, a crash in FP2 in Zandvoort resulted in a broken wrist that sidelined the Aussie for five races, but a strong showing in Mexico inspired Red Bull to retain the 34-year-old in its sister RB outfit.
Ahead of this season, Ricciardo said that he was targeting a full-time return to Red Bull Racing, once again as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
But so far, the Aussie has shown little reason for Red Bull to slot him back into a plum seat with the team. Worse, should his performances not improve with RB, his position with the Faenza squad might also be in jeopardy, especially with the talented Liam Lawson – his impressive super-sub last season – waiting in the wings.
Marko, known for his blunt assessments, penned a column for German website Speedweek where he clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with Ricciardo's start to the 2024 season.
His struggles are particularly concerning when compared to Tsunoda's early promise, putting pressure on the experienced driver to find his form quickly.
“There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel,” Marko said.
“Yuki’s qualifying was very good, and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon…
“At least Tsunoda is very good in qualifying. Then they are in the points in the first stint, only to fall further behind afterwards…
“Whether they are putting too much strain on the tyres or there are other reasons is what you need to find out.”
After concluding his night at the races in Jeddah in the lower tier of the field, Ricciardo attributed his underperformance to an issue residing under the hood of his VCARB 01 that was identified after qualifying but could not be changed for race day due to F1’s Parc Fermé regulations.
He believed this explained most of his struggles in Jeddah, although he accepted that a spin at Turn 1 at the end of the race was his own mistake.
Nevertheless, he felt there was cause for optimism ahead of his home race next week in Melbourne.
“The reason I’m staying optimistic is because I know that we had some things wrong,” he explained.
“With a good car and everything sorted, I know we can do a lot better. So painful three days, but I don’t want it to take any confidence out of us.”
Still, Marko is slowly but surely turning the heat on Ricciardo, and the eight-time Grand Prix winner will need to find his footing quickly and take his game to the next level if he hopes to remain a candidate in the future for the second seat at Red Bull Racing.
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