Daniel Ricciardo believes Visa Cash App RB could be facing a crucial “shifting point” in its 2024 season if the team manages to properly understand its car’s troubled upgrade package.
RB rolled out in Barcelona last month an extensively modified VCARB 01 that featured changes to the car’s floor as well as a modified new engine cover, revised sidepod inlets, and a new rear wing and beam wing.
Unfortunately, the team’s hopes of seeing the package boost its performance and uphold its strong early season momentum in the midfield have not been fulfilled.
This compelled the Faenza-based outfit to run its car in split specifications in free practice in Austria and in the weekend’s Sprint event to help the team better understand its package’s troubles.
The spectre of a significant correlation issue has inevitably emerged, and with it the prospect of RB’s engineers venturing down the wrong development path, hence the urgency in gaining clarity on why the upgrades have not performed in line with expectations.
“This could be a real shifting point,” Ricciardo acknowledged, quoted by Speedcafe.
“Every moment in F1 is important but yeah, because this update, and our correlation and understanding can obviously dictate what we do with the next update and how well we understand it.
“What we learn now will basically dictate where our car is in October, November, so it's a really important period for us.”
Obviously, through their invaluable insights and feedback that complement the team’s data, both Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda play an important role in keeping RB on the right track.
By analyzing and deciphering this combined information, the engineers can identify and address any underlying performance issues, optimizing the car's development process.
“It's a lot of throw on the table and just say ‘you guys deal with it', but it's obviously a little bit like that,” Ricciardo explained.
“We have to just put it all out there and hopefully they can understand it – and simulator stuff as well, what we feel on the sim, just try to correlate that to the real car.
“It's a team effort but there's a little bit for us to go [over] from these last three weeks.”
Ricciardo admitted that rival Haas’ current strong form and the mere four-point gap between the two teams in the Constructors’ standings has added an extra layer of pressure on RB.
“Nico's [Hulkenberg] scored big two weekends in a row now and all of a sudden out sixth place in the constructors', the gap isn't there anymore,” said the Aussie.
“This sport can shift so quickly and you never rest, and that's why, fairness to the team, we brought updates a couple of weeks ago.
“We were pushing. We've been bringing upgrades every few races and they've actually been working really well.
“Obviously, this one hasn't as much as we would have wanted. So it's not due to a lack of effort.
“This is how, where you get tested, where the season's looking really good and not it's at a kind of plateau.”
While there's certainly frustration within the team due to its underperformance, Ricciardo emphasizes the importance of a calm and constructive approach to addressing its car’s problems.
The F1 veteran acknowledges that Haas has found something that's working for them, and now RB needs to discover similar performance enhancements.
“We have to make that right step,” Ricciardo said.
“It's not about throwing tables around the room, it's all constructive.
“Of course, people are frustrated with that, but this is about being constructive and trying to keep everyone together.
“It's also motivational, you know. You see Haas, they've obviously found something, so there is lap time there, there is things that we can find.
“We just got to make sure we find it.”
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