Daniel Ricciardo’s chassis switch in China aims to reset his season and calm ongoing performance concerns.
Daniel Ricciardo explained that his chassis change in China was not unexpected. The RB F1 driver took advantage of the team bringing a new chassis to test it, and to dispel any suspicions about his previous chassis being the root of the Australian’s performance issues.
“It’s clear I’ve talked a lot about it because I’ve had some difficulties this year. But to be clear, it was always planned to introduce this chassis in China,” Ricciardo assured. “I don’t know if anyone else has brought a new chassis, but at the fifth race, I obviously raised my hand ‘as soon as it’s ready, I’ll take it.'”
“And, yes, it was as soon as possible, and I obviously said ‘yes, let me try it.’ Yuki [Tsunoda] is happy with his, and that’s it. So, it’s just a small box to check to make sure everything is okay—and for peace of mind.”
Ricciardo admits no flaws were found in his old chassis, but he felt better quickly: “We didn’t find anything unusual in what I had, but sometimes these things can be visible, or not.”
“Maybe we’ll never know what it was about. Either way, even if I had my old chassis, it wouldn’t change my approach to the weekend… But I was sure deep down it would help me in some way.”
“And, from the start, I felt we were in a better situation and everything was more seamless. We changed the chassis. I don’t want to rush and say it was definitely that. But I wasn’t comfortable with the previous chassis.”
“I’d like to be here in five races and say that, because it would mean the season has definitely turned around and I’ve removed that problem. We’ll see in Miami, at Imola, and maybe in the upcoming races if it continues. We’ll see, but I’m encouraged so far.”
Regarding the new chassis, Dr. Helmut Marko added: “Everything was planned from the start, as this is our third chassis that we already wanted to put on the track.”
“But of course, this change also played a psychological role after Daniel’s disappointing performances in previous weekends. Things went much better for him in China, but he needs to confirm that improvement.”
“Daniel was hit by Lance Stroll in China and was unfortunately deprived of all his chances. I find it incredible that Stroll called him an idiot after the checkered flag. And Daniel also had to take a penalty for Miami. It really wasn’t his weekend.”
Indeed, Ricciardo incurred a three-place penalty for Miami for overtaking behind the safety car.
Ricciardo’s New Chassis: Hope After Rough Start. Ricciardo’s New Chassis: Hope After Rough Start
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