"We need to give him a car that he's more comfortable with" - Laurent Mekies addresses Daniel Ricciardo's poor start to the season

RB team principal Lauren Mekies recently claimed that it is RB's responsibility to give Daniel Ricciardo a car with which he can deliver competitive performances. The Frenchman also claimed that the Australian was as competitive as some of the drivers who scored points in the Australian GP.

While the public and media continue to criticize the 34-year-old’s performance, RB has extended its full support to Ricciardo. Despite out-qualifying Yuki Tsunoda in his first race upon return in Hungary, the Perth-born driver has drawn flack for his 2024 performances. With the Japanese driver out-qualifying him in all three races on the calendar so far, Ricciardo's performances have come under scrutiny.

After Ricciardo finished P12 in Melbourne, Mekies stated that the Australian had a "strong race". The RB team principal claimed that the former Red Bull driver needed a car tuned to his needs. Although Ricciardo was baffled by his performance after qualifying, his team principal felt there were positive takeaways from the race.

Backing Daniel Ricciardo after the race, Mekies said (via Motorsport Network):

“The truth is that we need to give him a car that he's more comfortable with. Yuki had a car that he was very comfortable with from FP1 here. We probably reached that stage only in qualifying with Daniel, and from there you need to build. And we feel that he has certainly done that in the race.”

“He was as fast as the guys getting the points today. So we will have been fighting for the points with a more decent starting position. It's another positive to take home, the fact that Daniel has produced a very strong race as well, even if he was starting from the back.”

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Peter Bayer believes Daniel Ricciardo drove a solid race in Australia

RB CEO Peter Bayer recently claimed that Daniel Ricciardo could have misinterpreted some of the qualifying data before the Australian GP. Bayer felt that if the Australian had built on his final qualifying simulation on Friday, he would have been competitive.

On Friday, the RB driver moved to his race simulations early in the session and had only two attempts to post qualifying simulation laps. The Faenza-based team CEO believes that despite the deleted lap-time from qualifying, the 34-year-old had the pace to qualify in the top 10.

Speaking to Motorsport Network about Daniel Ricciardo after the race, Bayer said:

“I think he misinterpreted a bit the data. We actually had a look with him on what we have seen. And ultimately, I'm also taking positives away for Daniel, because he found his pace again in qualifying. I think if he could have done that lap on Friday, then he could have built on it. And honestly, I'm sure that he would have been in the top 10 as well in the qualifying. So we just need to take that away.”

“On Sunday it's difficult, because in terms of traffic, in terms of how you manage the race and where you position yourself, it's also a track where it's not easy to overtake. Honestly, he did a good job, solid job and we know that we can build on what we've seen here.”

Praising the race performance of Daniel Ricciardo in Melbourne, Bayer felt he had driven a solid race. There have also been rumors and speculations about the Perth-born driver being given a two-race ultimatum to perform or he would be replaced by Miami.

Red Bull denied that any such ultimatums were given to their former driver and told Sportskeeda that there was no deadline or performance mandate. Horner also offered encouragement to the RB driver before his race. After the Australian GP, the Briton also refused to rule out Ricciardo as a candidate for the 2025 seat.