When Red Bull opted to hand Daniel Ricciardo a Formula 1 reprieve with its sister squad last season, the expectation was that it was the start of him forging a path back to the seat he vacated at the end of 2018.
However, the Australian’s comeback to the sport has not been plain sailing and he has failed to re-establish the reputation that saw him regarded as one of the hottest commodities on the driver market when he was representing Red Bull and then Renault.
Except for one standout outing in Mexico last term, Ricciardo has trailed his less experienced team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who has been responsible for the entire seven-point haul to RB’s name so far this season.
Having been renowned for his hot-headed tirades over the radio more than his on-track showings in the nascent stages of his budding F1 career, Tsunoda has learnt from those mistakes and is now reaping the rewards for his calm approach at the wheel.
Amid rumours linking him with a switch to the Aston Martin and Honda venture from 2026, Tsunoda had expressed last month that his ultimate ambition was to persuade Red Bull to promote him to its senior squad.
However, the Japanese driver has never been touted as an option high-up on Red Bull’s list, despite advisor Helmut Marko, who helps decide the operation’s driver line-ups, comparing Tsunoda’s drive to 10th place at Suzuka on the level of Max Verstappen.
Rather, the widespread view that Ricciardo provides the main threat to the incumbent Sergio Perez at Red Bull has never wavered.
From the moment that Ricciardo impressed at his Silverstone test outing last summer to secure a full-time place with the team then known as AlphaTauri, he has outlined that his target is to return to Red Bull Racing.
Following a stagnated comeback that saw him miss five rounds due to a broken metacarpal when he crashed in practice at Zandvoort, Ricciardo was convinced he would hit the ground running this season with an entire pre-season under his belt. But that’s not transpired to be the case thus far.
Ricciardo has been out-qualified at each of the four rounds to this point and has been “puzzled” with his pace deficit to Tsunoda.
Hopes that his return home would kickstart his campaign diminished when his fastest one-lap effort at the Albert Park Circuit was deleted as he ventured wide at Turn 4, resulting in him being eliminated from Q1.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda proved that the VCARB 01 had inherent raw speed as he trumped both Aston Martin drivers to convert eighth on the grid into a seventh-place finish during a high-attritional third race of the season.
Ricciardo’s prospects were curtailed the moment he was resigned to an 18th-place start, with his fastest lap having been enough to see him progress through to Q2.
However, that effort still placed Ricciardo three-tenths behind Tsunoda. The most concerning thing for Ricciardo was the admission that there were no overwhelming issues with the balance of his car and also his sense that the lap had been competitive.
Expanding upon his recurring struggles to be on a foothold with Tsunoda, Ricciardo divulged that the data showed to him that he couldn’t maintain the same speed through the corners that his team-mate has done.
Asked whether he had pinpointed where his shortcomings have been, Ricciardo said: “We’re chasing, like always, a little bit of downforce, a little bit more rear grip.
“But to be honest, I struggled a little bit in the high-speed in Melbourne and in Saudi [Arabia]. In Saudi we did see we were down a bit, so we felt like we had a bit of an explanation for that. But it was still the case in Melbourne through Turns 9 and 10, where I was down a bit compared to Yuki.”
Such comments sounded reminiscent of his troubled time at McLaren, when he suffered a thrashing at the hands of Lando Norris and was released from his contract two seasons into an anticipated long-term partnership.
But still, Ricciardo denied that his stuttering beginning with the rebranded RB squad could be compared to his disastrous, reputation-tarnishing period with McLaren.
“Then, on top of that, it’s not a McLaren situation, it’s just important that I keep working with my engineers and don’t start taking too many suggestions or too much advice from the outside,” he continued.
“Of course, I would’ve wanted more results from the first three races. I’m not happy with it, of course. But it’s important we ultimately stay on course and don’t get sidetracked.”
While he has sought to dispel suspicions that it could be deja vu from his ill-fated McLaren stint, the fact Ricciardo has felt the need to address that provides cause to ponder whether lingering doubts from that period still remain embedded in his mind – and even perhaps his overall racing, too.
That has appeared evident with his request for a chassis change to alleviate doubts over there being flaws with his car ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix being granted based on memories from his debut McLaren season.
However, Ricciardo is right to take the stance that he will not fall into the same trap he did whilst with the Woking-based squad. He exhausted multiple avenues in his bid to make the relationship turn a corner, but instead, he ended up down cul-de-sacs each time which did lasting damage to his driving.
This time around, Ricciardo is sticking true to his principles and is it clear that he is still in a healthier mental space than in 2022 when he looked weak and devoid of suitable ideas.
Ricciardo has mentioned that he is ignoring the outside noise associated with his underwhelming performances, and he has not reached the same crisis point that ended his McLaren spell and required a complete reset on his route back into the Red Bull fold.
Tsunoda is no Norris, but Ricciardo hasn’t been taking the same thrashings he became accustomed to up against the British driver whilst at McLaren. The margin between the RB team-mates has often been slim but the compact nature of the lower midfield order has seen that result in several positions difference at times during this campaign.
Ricciardo lowered the gap to 0.055s at Suzuka as he missed out on a place in Q3, but he is being held to the first-class standards that are aligned with his Red Bull intentions.
But time is ticking for him to get it together. The opening for that dream Red Bull return materialising in 2025 is closing, with Perez appearing destined to pen an extension.
No longer focused on replicating the sheer brilliance that Verstappen produces each weekend and getting pounded into the ground in a forlorn attempt to match that record-breaking standard, Perez has fixated on ensuring that he extracts his potential.
There was no bold pre-season talk that he was gunning to topple Verstappen to the title and he has stopped “inventing” on set-ups to chase a performance deficit, thus ensuring that he builds through each race weekend from a more controllable initial baseline.
The improvement has been clear, with Perez sustaining his most consistent start to a season since his move to Red Bull in 2021 with three second-places in four races. The Mexican stated in Japan that he expects his future to be sorted within the next month and it seems a matter of time before he’s confirmed alongside Verstappen for 2025.
But first and foremost, Ricciardo should be preoccupied with preserving his status as an F1 driver. Both Ricciardo and Tsunoda entered 2024 with the pressure ramped up amid the recognition that Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings to take their position.
The New Zealander deputised for Ricciardo during his five-race absence between the Dutch and Qatar Grands Prix last season and did a sterling role in landing the Faenza-based squad’s best result at the time when he converted a Q3 showing into a ninth-place finish in a gruelling 62-lap Singapore race.
Amid his understandable frustration at missing out on a full-time drive, rumours continue to rumble that Lawson has been guaranteed a permanent seat next season.
Tsunoda’s scintillating form right now makes him undroppable, but RB would be prudent to let Ricciardo slip through its ranks when the top brass have been outspoken on the core benefits the 34-year-old has helped to deliver.
RB CEO Peter Bayer has been candid on how Ricciardo’s arrival marked an immediate positive change in how the team operates during individual race weekends. While Tsunoda continues to mature into a credible team-leading candidate, there’s no substitute for experience in a title-winning organisation.
But while the Austrian has commended the impact Ricciardo has had on RB, that hasn’t translated to lap time on track from his side of the garage on a consistent enough basis.
The beginning of Ricciardo’s demise will be traced back to 2021 when he started with McLaren, but amidst a disappointing debut season with the British outfit, he still capitalised to pip Norris to the win in Monza.
F1’s return to ground effect cars in 2022 was highlighted as an opening for him to get back on track, but the gap between him and his then-team-mate increased even larger as he was out-qualified 20 times to two.
The marked drop between 2021 and 2022 has delivered inevitable question marks over whether Ricciardo’s driving tendencies are compatible with the less nimble and more cumbersome ground effect cars in use.
Ricciardo’s initial challenge will be to dispel that narrative and prove he is up to the task of producing the goods in the less pressurised midfield environment at RB.
Despite RB’s revamp and closer technical ties with the parent group marking a departure from its past ideals, the sister team’s predominant purpose is still to serve as a ground to nurture drivers for Red Bull.
Ricciardo hasn’t returned to pander around in the midfield; he wants to be back in a car that can deliver race wins again. In order to prove that he is deserving of such opportunities, though, he must demonstrate that he has the measure of an improved but not breathtaking benchmark in Tsunoda.
In Ricciardo’s defence, the showings that Tsunoda has put in since their time together should have eradicated the expectation that he should be demolishing his team-mate.
Nevertheless, a rookie Lawson showcased that Tsunoda is a beatable competitor and Ricciardo is an established eight-time race winner, who, once upon a time, was considered a capable title-winning driver.
With three drivers in the Red Bull stable producing the goods and its two teams topping their respective championship battles, the Austrian outfit is in a privileged position. But it might come to rue prioritising Ricciardo over Lawson for a record 24-race calendar unless the former gets it together.
Ricciardo has stressed that his race-ending crash with Alex Albon on the opening lap in Japan was an isolated incident. But it has added to the growing scrutiny on his shoulders and removed a race of learning.
Ricciardo has sought to alleviate the strain being imposed with the reminder that there are still 20 rounds to go. But deep down, he will cognise that F1 is a ruthless business and Red Bull epitomises that more than elsewhere. As F1 prepares to return to China – the place that provided one of Ricciardo’s greatest moments – the RB driver knows he must start to deliver or his F1 redemption shot could be blunted without the dream ending.
