“Just a tough one” - Daniel Ricciardo reflects on a brutal 3 days in Saudi Arabia F1 GP

Daniel Ricciardo described the Saudi Arabian GP as three difficult days where his car clearly lacked performance, as he struggled to perform at his competitive best. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the race, the RB driver lamented the limitations of his car but hoped for improvements at the Australian GP.

Stating he was not in a phase like he was in McLaren mentally or performance wise, Daniel Ricciardo claimed that it was the car that was underwhelming. He felt that their car’s weakness lay in following other cars in dirty air, which kept him stuck behind both Logan Sargeant and Valtteri Bottas for a significant amount of time. He felt that it was one of the toughest weekends and seemed tricky to follow cars.

The Australian driver finished 16th, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished 15th. He reckoned they did find their weaknesses from qualifying and claimed to have worked late in the night with his team to dissect the pitfalls from qualifying.

Asked by Sportskeeda if following cars was trickier in the VCARB01 than in other cars, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Yeah, I mean, we, like, simply we just lacked load this weekend, just in general. So then when you get behind another car, it's even, you know, exaggerated more. And it kind of exploits even more of a weakness. So it was tricky.

"Yeah just a tough one. One of those ones you just hope that it's over. Look I'm glad I'm back on the grid and all that so I don't want to be like ‘ah I just wanted to see the chequered flag’. I'm not in the mindset I was a couple of years ago but yeah just knowing that we don't quite have underneath us what we should that's where you feel a little bit helpless.”

Asked by Sportskeeda if he was looking forward to his home race in Melbourne, Daniel Ricciardo replied:

“Yeah I mean I I'm gonna obviously put this weekend behind, I think just push the team hard. Already last night, I stayed quite late to try and help everyone find the issues and yeah, just up to me now to keep on ‘em. I know they want it as bad as I do. So make sure that we have a good package into Melbourne and then, yeah, let's say my season will start there and I'll kick some arse.”

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Daniel Ricciardo feels the VCARB01 was a tricky car to drive in Jeddah at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP

Daniel Ricciardo felt that a slow pitstop made him drop down to the back of the grid, after which he was stuck in a DRS train. In general, the 34-year-old felt RB were not at 100 percent in several areas of performance and that their car had its limitations. He felt his spin came as a result of picking up too much kerb, but the race in itself was a struggle.

The Honey Badger believes that they could have a brand new improved car at the Australian GP, with improvements to many performance areas. He felt the entire weekend was a painful affair, given that some of the problems with his car couldn’t be fixed over the weekend.

Explaining his difficult weekend and race, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Honestly, we found a few things over the course of the weekend. So heading into the race you're always upbeat and optimistic that maybe something happens but I think it was always going to be an uphill battle. We simply don't have everything functioning at 100 %. So we see a few flaws, honestly with the car. So we got to get that fixed for the next one. I think the race itself, safety car, everyone pitted and we had a really slow stop. I don't know if they showed it. But a slow one and then we're on that train. So at the end then just to make sure, I made my mistake as well I had a spin and turn one so I didn't want the team to feel left out. But yeah just definitely a tricky one.”

“But the reason I'm staying optimistic is I know that we had some things wrong and with a good car and everything sorted, I know we can do a lot better. So painful three days. But I don't want it to take any confidence out of us. So hasn't been the start to the year we wanted but it's race two and Melbourne's next so yeah a big push for everyone to get it right and we'll have a good weekend.”

Asked if the problems were race pace related, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“It's honestly some things with the car like just when it comes to producing efficiency and everything. Just a few things didn’t quite add up. So look I felt it yesterday like Bahrain I knew that it was more me like qualifying, I knew I left some time on the table. I knew I left a couple tenths. But yesterday and when it kind of plateaus and the others keep improving. It's also a bit of a sign. So I could feel that that was the limit of the car.

"So yeah it was we did find some things afterwards the but then you’ve got Parc Ferme. To be honest even if we didn’t have Parc Ferme, its nothing that we can fix in 24 hours. I’m sure a few things will go back to the factory and come back with a fresh car in Melbourne.”

Daniel Ricciardo felt there were reasons for him to be optimistic going forward as he believed some of the issues with their car would be resolved at their factory. Yet to score the first points of his 2024 season, the battle between him and younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t helped the optics of his comeback.

The Japanese driver outqualified Daniel Ricciardo in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, denting the latter's ability to make a case for the Red Bull seat he targets for the 2025 season. Although the Australian has his reasons for lacking performance in the two weekends, RB’s strategies and slow pit stops haven’t helped his cause either. The Faenza squad are currently at the bottom of the standings along with Williams, Sauber and Alpine.