Daniel Ricciardo gave a short, defiant response to claims from former Formula 1 World Champion and fellow Aussie Alan Jones that he is past his best in the sport.
After a troublesome two-year stint with McLaren, Ricciardo went on hiatus at the start of 2023 before a comeback with AlphaTauri when Nyck de Vries was ousted.
Ricciardo is now back with the recently-rebranded RB squad full-time in 2024, but his season has got off to a sluggish start.
Outqualified by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in both Grands Prix and without a point so far, Ricciardo was probed on whether he has a “point to prove” by Australian news outlet 10 News First.
“Alan Jones said that maybe you are past your best, have you got something to prove in the next few races?” the news outlet asked.
“Not at all,” Ricciardo responded.
Jones isn’t alone in his criticism of Ricciardo, with former F1 team owner turned pundit Eddie Jordan claiming the Australian “needs a result more than anyone“.
Meanwhile, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko warned Ricciardo he must “come up with something soon” to start matching Tsunoda in the VCARB01.
There’s also added pressure in the form of Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, who deputised when Ricciardo was sidelined with a broken metacarpal last term.
22 rounds of the record 24 remain in 2024, with Ricciardo touching down in his native Australia for this weekend’s upcoming race in Melbourne.
Not only does that give Ricciardo plenty of races long-term to silence his critics, but it also means that short-term he gets to enjoy his first home GP in two years.
“Very much” was Ricciardo’s response when asked if he was excited to be back racing F1 in his home country, before he gave his assessment on the season so far.
“It’s been a little bit of a steady, I’ll say slower start to the year,” he continued.
“But it’s only been two races, so hopefully the season starts on the right foot now in Melbourne and it will be like the first one to get going.”
Ricciardo’s blank slate mentality is understandable given he had a race to forget in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Circulating well out of the points and caught at the rear end of a train of cars after a lengthy pit-stop, the Australian’s misery was compounded by a late-race spin.
However, he put his troubles down to identifiable “flaws” with the VCARB 01 machine and with those hopefully put right, believes “we can do a lot better.”
