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Daniel Ricciardo admitted to having discussions with RB over a potential chassis swap to investigate performance areas that need improvement. As reported by Speedcafe, the Australian suggested that there have been inconsistencies between the chassis in the past.
Daniel Ricciardo has faced criticism for his recent underwhelming performances and is under increased pressure in Japan to deliver a strong result and secure his first points finish.
Yuki Tsunoda has managed to out-qualify him in the first three races of the season, a situation he did not expect. However, the Australian acknowledges the internal and external pressure and insists the situation is different from the past with McLaren.
Daniel Ricciardo had tried to change his driving style to suit the car which resulted in him overdriving it, further leading to poor performances. At RB, the situation seems different, where he is in the process of tuning the car to his liking, resulting in him leaning more toward his strengths.
In 2023, the Western Australian did not have a significant gap to his Japanese teammate and managed to outpace him on several occasions in the six races he drove.
It was only after the Bahrain GP, that he seemed to be struggling, particularly in qualifying. The RB driver suggested that there were inconsistencies with both cars as he spoke to the media, including Sportskeeda, in Jeddah. In Japan, he told onsite media that a potential chassis swap had been discussed, despite the possibility of differences between both cars in the past.
Asked if a chassis swap had been considered, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“There has. I have certainly addressed that. Just again to make sure… there has been in the past a bit of difference. You know, obviously, I’ve driven F1 a long time now, but you can find some differences. So that was certainly something I raised the possibility of if we still are struggling. Before we tell me ‘I’m shit’, let’s get that sorted and put to bed.”
Daniel Ricciardo feels he struggled in high-speed sections in Australia and Saudi Arabia
Daniel Ricciardo has struggled to outqualify teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the opening races of the 2024 season and the race results have also reflected the same.
In 2023, the former Red Bull Racing driver had out-qualified the Japanese driver in three out of six qualifying sessions and two out of three sprint qualifying sessions he participated in.
The struggles in 2024 seem car-related, according to the explanations from both RB senior personnel Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer. The RB CEO further suggested that the Australian played a crucial role in developing the car, which has contributed significantly to his teammate's strong form.
Initially, Daniel Ricciardo was puzzled by the performance gap to his teammate. He has had a rare style of driving that has involved a late braking technique that benefited him.
Unable to decouple the style technically in the past or tune it to the car’s limitations, the Aussie has chosen to rely on some of his natural abilities upon returning to the sport with the Faenza team. He believes that high-speed areas have been a struggle but can be improvised with setup changes.
Explaining his struggles in the last two races, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“It’s probably, what we’re chasing is a little bit of as always downforce, a bit of rear grip. To be honest, I struggled a little bit in the high speed in Melbourne and Saudi. Saudi we did see we were down a bit, so we kind of felt like we had a bit of an explanation for that. But it was still the case in Melbourne through kind of Turn 9 and 10 where I was down a bit compared to Yuki. I think we probably focus a little bit of our set-up on those areas to give me that confidence, and then I think the low and medium speed stuff, we’re pretty much there.”
After the Saudi Arabian GP, Daniel Ricciardo admitted RB had discovered a few things on his car which were corrected. However, a deleted lap time due to an error in the Australian GP did not help the cause.
The criticism over his form led to speculation about the multiple GP winner being given a deadline of May to deliver results, or he would be replaced by Liam Lawson. However, Red Bull categorically denied the rumors and reports to Sportskeeda, further suggesting there was no such deadline.
Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko stated it was up to RB to give the Perth-born driver a car good enough to deliver the results. As it stands, Tsunoda has earned the team six points while Daniel Ricciardo remains in the hunt for a strong points finish.
