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Daniel Ricciardo believes the early season scrutiny pressured him no more than he had pressured himself. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda in Monaco, the RB driver felt that constructive criticism from the team was all that mattered.
Scrutinised from his second weekend in the 2024 season, Daniel Ricciardo received unprecedented flack for his dull start and performance. The early scrutiny was a result of him being a prime contender for his former seat at Red Bull Racing for the 2025 season and beyond.
However, it did pressurize him in the first four races, until his performance started to turn around qualifying in Japan. The 34-year-old was pressured by the Chinese GP to turn it around, and he was on top of his game until he got punted out by Lance Stroll.
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Despite many other drivers suffering a similar fate, where they have been unable to beat their teammates or had a dull start, the RB driver was criticized particularly for being shown up by Yuki Tsunoda. So far Daniel Ricciardo has out-qualified the young Japanese driver in only two out of seven race weekends.
Reflecting upon the pressure as he spoke to Sportskeeda, the Aussie felt he did not need a reminder from the outside to turn his performance around. However, he acknowledged the external scrutiny of his performance.
Asked by Sportskeeda if the pressure had built up after four races to turn the season around China onwards, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“I wouldn't say pressure in terms of like no more than I put on myself. I guess, I don't need other people to tell me that I'm not doing good enough. Because I know myself you know let's say what I'm capable of. And I know first and foremost if I am not doing it. So it's not that I need someone to tell me for me to realise. But of course like you know if the team see that I'm not applying myself or if they think I could work harder or something then of course you know I'm not going to take their call it, constructive criticism but it wasn't really anything like this. It was just yeah.”
Daniel Ricciardo feels the early scrutiny of his performances was a result of the McLaren tenure
Daniel Ricciardo believes that some of the criticism he has received in recent times has been a ripple from his tenure at McLaren from 2021 to 2022. He felt the scrutiny was a result of a lack of belief in his ability to perform like he did in the past.
In his days in Red Bull Racing, the Perth-born driver finished twice in the top three of the championship, going toe to toe with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and even beating Sebastian Vettel in his prime. Some of the scrutiny in recent days has been a mix of a silly season at its early stages along with his underwhelming performance from the McLaren stint.
Often called the ‘last of the late brakers’, Daniel Ricciardo had kickstarted his first season by beating Vettel in 2014 as his teammate. The German was in his prime and had wrapped his fourth title in the previous year.
However, beating the reigning champion in the same car, the Honey Badger had finished third in the championship amidst the start of the Mercedes-dominant era of the sport. In 2016, he finished third in the championship when Red Bull had the third fastest car on the grid, but he had beaten both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who were in a Ferrari. This time, his teammate was the then-upcoming talent Max Verstappen.
Asked if the early scrutiny had been excessive and had a bit of silly season at play in its early stages added to the mix, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“Well look, obviously after my McLaren period, I think a lot of people still probably think that, I think they still think that is probably me. I guess the people that maybe are giving me the scrutiny or whatever, I guess they probably don’t think I am what I used to be. So when my season starts probably a bit slower, they say yeah ‘yeah, he lost it McLaren and he’s finished."
"I guess maybe thats what they think. Look there’s always going to be pressure and people saying, even Miami, like I qualify fourth and theres people saying ‘he’s not going to finish fourth’ and then I finish fourth they’ll say ‘yeah but that was a fluke’. Ok and then I qualify sh#t in the next race, I don’t know you’ll never please everyone. Thats why I say they should go and f@#k themselves.”
In his conversation with Sportskeeda, Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged the swinging narrative surrounding his performances. Aware of the praise for his performances from some for doing well in Mexico or Miami, the former Red Bull Racing driver felt that some naysayers were hard to persuade.
Nevertheless, the criticism has not wiped the smile off his face, nor has the negative narrative dented his confidence. Despite the slow start, Laurent Mekies and RB have supported him and have had full confidence in his abilities to be the man to deliver results as reiterated many times in 2024.
Although the momentum started to shift in his favor in Japan, it was in China where it slowly started to take a turn for the better. Since then, Daniel Ricciardo has had a spectacular drive in the sprint in Miami scoring his first points, which was far from his form at McLaren or his mental state then.
However, after the performance in Imola, a similar narrative resurfaced negating his form and questioning his ability to function like he did in the past. The Imola circuit caught out many drivers due to its unique track layout, including the likes of Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.
