After a tough Bahrain GP, Daniel Ricciardo stays upbeat, focusing on the Saudi race to leverage newfound insights and aim for better performance.
RB F1 evolved in the second half of the pack at Bahrain, finishing in 13th and 14th places. However, Daniel Ricciardo is pleased to have launched his season and to immediately follow up with a second race to further understand the car.
Ricciardo’s Optimistic Return
“The first race was an opportunity for everyone, including myself, to dust off. Over the weekend, I did some things well and others less so,” Ricciardo admits. “Now, I’m looking forward to the next one.”
“I’m glad it’s a back-to-back race and that we have another race right after the first. I stayed in Bahrain a few extra days, resting but keeping active and stress-free by playing padel with some of my colleagues!”
“There was a lot of analysis on Saturday night after the race, and a lot of positives came out of it. In the short term, we need a perfect race to finish in the points, but I think over the next few races, we will continue to get stronger and stronger.”
“The Saudi track is very different, and I’m eager to race there again. After one race, I think I can still gain a few tenths this weekend. I’ve raced twice in Saudi Arabia, where my best result was a fifth place. It’s a great circuit, which I really enjoy, and I’m really happy to be going back.”
“The grip is quite high for a street circuit, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of high speed and the adrenaline rush that comes with it. The first sector is very fast: once you get past turns 1 and 2, it’s time to hang on because the G-forces on your body are very high. It’s a real circuit, very physical.”
Podium and top 5 predictions were “noise”
Yuki Tsunoda was also pleased to see that the team had potential, even if the raw results were closer to what the team itself thought than what the rumors suggested, with predictions of RB F1 struggling in the top 10.
“I stayed a few days in Bahrain after the race and am looking forward to getting back to work in Jeddah. At this stage of the season, you always want to drive the car! There was a lot of noise around our team before testing, and that continued into the first race,” Tsunoda recalls.
“But in the garage, we obviously didn’t pay attention to it. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from Bahrain, but it turned out to be better than I thought in terms of car performance, especially in qualifying.”
“In fact, even the race pace was quite good, but some factors made it difficult to see from the outside. It was a useful weekend where we learned a lot about our car, its limits, and the points to improve.”
“For example, the changes we made from the first to the second day didn’t work as we hoped, so we changed again, and it was much better for the third day and qualifying, so all these lessons will be useful in Saudi Arabia.”
“Our team is new in many ways”
Reconstruction Tsunoda
Tsunoda also reminds that the team is still building: “Our team has not only changed its name, it is new in many ways; we have new people and have put in place new procedures, so we are still learning to work well together while discovering the new car.
“Now, we will continue this process in Saudi Arabia. Last year, I was in the points until a few laps from the end. I like this circuit because it’s very fast and enjoyable to drive, and it will be the first opportunity to see how the new car performs on a very different layout.”
“There will be practically no tire degradation, and we’ll see how the car’s aerodynamics work at very high speeds. It’s very fast, and the walls are very close, which makes things very interesting inside the cockpit.”
“Everyone is very motivated to go faster, improve the car, and score points as soon as possible. We’ve seen how tight the midfield is, so we know it won’t be easy, but we are all determined to keep pushing.”
Ricciardo Saudi F1 GP 2024. Ricciardo Saudi F1 GP 2024
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