Daniel Ricciardo’s 13th place finish in Bahrain underscores his cautious optimism and the team’s ongoing challenges.
Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th at the Bahrain Grand Prix, emphasizing his caution regarding the performance expectations of RB F1 throughout the winter. Despite the widespread belief in the team’s progression and closing the gap to Red Bull, Ricciardo maintained a realistic outlook.
“Everyone believed in it, except us! It became increasingly competitive, but I struggled in the first stint. We had more difficulties than anticipated with the soft tires; the hard ones were better, and the softs towards the end were nice,” Ricciardo commented.
“I’m confident in making progress in certain areas; I have some ideas, and we still have work to do because a two-tenths difference can change a lot.”
“We could have had a better race, but I don’t think we’re yet among the top five teams. Next week will be telling, with a completely different track and asphalt. We’ve made developments this winter, but clearly not enough. However, we’re not panicking.”
Ricciardo believes Tsunoda is “frustrated.”
The race was notable for a clash with Yuki Tsunoda, who overtook him and then locked his wheels after the finish line, visibly annoyed that Ricciardo had benefited from a team order to pass. The Australian was on soft tires, while his teammate was on hards.
“I don’t know. I was listening to the radio, trying to stay cool. I’m very reasonable at the moment, but let’s call it immaturity. He’s clearly frustrated by the team’s order. But realistically, it’s something we discussed before the race. It was very likely I’d use a soft towards the end.”
“He knew there was a chance I’d have a pace advantage at the end, and if he got the call, it would happen. It doesn’t give me points, we’re fighting for 13th place, so let’s at least give ourselves the best chance of getting a car into the points.”
Tsunoda’s Defense, Ricciardo’s Race Struggle
He’s uncertain if he could have overtaken Kevin Magnussen had Tsunoda complied immediately: “We would have had a better chance as the pace drops lap by lap. Every lap counts, but I don’t think we could have scored points, maybe caught up to Kevin and Zhou, but no points.”
Meanwhile, the Japanese driver defends himself, noting that Ricciardo didn’t overtake the Haas either: “In the end, he didn’t pass either. He had clean air, and I was stuck behind when I was going to pass, but it’s the first race, and we’re not fighting for points, so we’ll see how it goes.”
When asked about his race, he gives a very negative review of the second half and his lack of performance: “Suddenly, I was nowhere. We need to see what happened from mid-race, see how the debrief goes.”
Ricciardo Criticizes Tsunoda’s ‘Immaturity’: Pre-Race Talks. Ricciardo Criticizes Tsunoda’s ‘Immaturity’: Pre-Race Talks
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