Ricciardo Calm Despite Rocky Start to F1 2024

Daniel Ricciardo remains unfazed by his slow start in the 2024 F1 season, confident that a couple of strong races will overshadow his early struggles and reset his campaign.

Daniel Ricciardo stated that he is not concerned about his difficult start to the 2024 F1 season, asserting that “two good races” will make the “bad ones be forgotten.”

The Australian entered the season trying to be competitive from the start in an attempt to make a comeback in the Red Bull cockpit he left at the end of 2018.

However, Ricciardo’s recent struggles to extract pace from his VCARB 01 at RB F1 have led to poorer performances than Yuki Tsunoda.

Nonetheless, the eight-time Grand Prix winner remains optimistic about an improvement.

When asked if he felt more pressure than usual after a first-lap crash in Japan, Ricciardo replied, “I say yes, but my answer is that it comes more from myself than from anyone else.”

“I’m sure there’s some from the outside, but I started this season with a full preseason, I had a really good winter, trained hard, and I’m feeling really good.”

“So, everything in my head and through my years of experience tells me that we should start the season strongly.”

“That’s where I say ‘OK, it hasn’t really happened yet and it’s been four races.’ But I know I don’t need to change anything. It will come.”

“It’s just a little bit here and there and anyway, maybe the fact of missing the 100% at the moment will change.”

“Even in Melbourne, I was probably disappointed on paper with the weekend, of course, and the lack of points, qualifications, and all that. But when we analyzed the race, it wasn’t as bad as it probably seemed. We had a good race pace and there are good things we are taking, we just need to put them into place now. And that, I will do!”

“At Suzuka, I was on pace with Yuki in qualifying. It’s a pity I couldn’t race but my pace was also good in Free Practice 3. I only had one session at that race before qualifying. So there’s nothing worrying.”

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has repeatedly criticized Ricciardo’s performances. However, Ricciardo suggested that the Austrian’s comments did not affect him as they were on the same wavelength regarding expectations.

Pressed to know if Marko was putting pressure on him behind the scenes, Ricciardo retorted, “No, but I know what he expects and wants and that’s exactly what I want.”

“I know it’s 24 races and it’s a long season. With two good races, suddenly, the bad ones would be forgotten.”

“But each race that passes without a result is not what he wants or what the team wants.”

“My engineer, Pierre [Hamelin], has been working hard and it’s important that we focus only on ourselves and not get distracted by anything else.”

“Of course, we all want a result, but it won’t come from receiving suggestions, advice, or anything else from anyone.”

“So, we’re just going to stay the course and I know it will come. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened yet, but I really have confidence that it will.”