Ricciardo’s struggles being exacerbated by Tsunoda’s speed

Daniel Ricciardo's disappointing start to the 2024 season has become one of Formula 1's biggest talking points.

The 34-year-old Australian's return to Red Bull's second team, known this year as Visa Cash App RB, was supposed to be the first step in a sensational return to the reigning world champions. This Cinderella story seems to have all but disappeared in just three races, with many wondering if Ricciardo will even stay with RB for the entire season given the way things started.

His struggling form is even more striking when compared to his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, the perennially overlooked man in the other car. Is Ricciardo facing an early RB exit? And what exactly does Tsunoda need to do to be considered for the top team?

Is Ricciardo on the ice?

A New Zealand Herald article immediately after the Australian Grand Prix suggested that Ricciardo had already been given a two-race ultimatum to improve or else Kiwi driver Liam Lawson would replace him at the Miami Grand Prix. Lawson impressed in his five appearances as Ricciardo's replacement last year, with a best finish of ninth in Singapore.

A source close to Ricciardo and several sources from both Red Bull teams told ESPN that the report of an ultimatum had “no” truth. Suggestions of an early exit are premature, but a story like the Herald's is always impossible to erase when it concerns Red Bull; The team has often used press reports as a way to motivate underperforming drivers, and Ricciardo's form is already openly discussed by members of both teams.

– Watch Formula 1 on ESPN networks throughout the season

Ricciardo's lack of pace was poorly timed, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz taking a sensational victory in Australia and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner subsequently suggesting the former Toro Rosso driver could join Red Bull for 2025. ESPN sources with knowledge of the situation indicated that scenario is in play.

In the same media session in which he spoke about Sainz, Horner was asked by ESPN if Ricciardo was wasting his opportunity to make this decision.

“I think it’s still very early in the year to be thinking about next year,” Horner responded. “He's a big boy and he'll get back up, but sometimes the F1 driver can be a bit lonely, so a bit of encouragement is never a bad thing.”

Horner has always been a supporter of Ricciardo. He joked that he almost had a car accident in August 2018 when Ricciardo phoned him to tell him he was leaving Red Bull for Renault in 2019, and privately maintained that the Australian almost wrecked his career by deciding to leave. Ricciardo was held in high regard by the late Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, while sources told ESPN that Horner believed Ricciardo and Max Verstappen could have remained teammates until today if he didn't hadn't left.

Horner was surprised by Ricciardo's struggles at McLaren and felt a return to the wider Red Bull program could get the most out of the eight-time race winner. That belief remains, but sources also told ESPN in Melbourne that Horner would not blindly stick to his positions if there was not a clear turnaround soon. Ricciardo's victory for McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix and his strong performance at last year's Mexican Grand Prix are clear reminders of what he is capable of in his day, but highlighting a handful of historic results only goes so far in the cutthroat world of F1. .

Another reason why a knee-jerk reaction is unlikely is Ricciardo's proximity to the $35 million-a-year title partnership with Visa and CashApp. Ricciardo is represented by CAA Sports, which helped broker this particular deal, and sources told ESPN that his presence on the team helped boost the final number; a testament to the marketing influence of the man who is still considered the face of Netflix's hit documentary series “Drive to Survive.

Even though Visa and CashApp do not have the power to block the transfer of a driver, the importance of this agreement for Red Bull GmbH – which opted for the title partnership rather than selling the second team – gives Ricciardo an additional level of protection. Multiple sources have even suggested to ESPN that the deal could hurt Ricciardo when it comes to his aspirations at Red Bull – assuming his form improves – if Visa and Cash App want him to remain the face of RB.

None of this is to say that Ricciardo's position at RB is unassailable. There are no extenuating circumstances to explain his lack of pace in 2024. He's had a full preseason to acclimate to the new car, and yet he doesn't look at all comfortable . He didn't shy away from this story and suggested that he still had a way to go to feel comfortable with VCARB 01.

“I didn’t let any of those maybe negative things creep in,” Ricciardo said in Melbourne. “I also understand that I didn't expect to start the season like this. Last year in Budapest I drove the car a day before, I overqualified Yuki and I had a very strong race without no knowledge. [of the car]. With a full pre-season and all that, and all the racing last year, I honestly thought this year we would start a lot stronger.

“I think the important thing is that I stay the course. It's not that my head is full of nonsense or anything. Honestly, I feel good, and unfortunately the results haven't made me feel good, but deep down, behind the wheel, I feel good and excited. I just want to keep racing. I'm sure I'll find a little more in me, and I still believe that maybe we'll find a little something on the car.

Ricciardo's inability to deliver is evident by the electric form of the man driving the identical car on the other side of the RB garage.

Yukimania

Now that Sainz is finally getting the recognition he deserves, Tsunoda has a very strong case to be the most underrated driver in F1. His seventh place at the Australian Grand Prix underlined this fact. On form alone, Tsunoda is the RB driver who looks most worthy of driving the same car as Verstappen next year, but he still seems far down the list of potential candidates to replace Sergio Pérez, should the company decide to 'enter. this direction. It remains one of the most confusing situations in F1.

The hype around Tsunoda exploded when he finished ninth on his debut at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix. An uneven 2022 followed, but since the start of 2023 he has been one of the most consistent drivers in Grid.

Sources close to Tsunoda told ESPN that he was frustrated by the media coverage of him in 2023, when he felt like he had comfortably beaten his three teammates – De Vries, Ricciardo and Lawson – but didn't never received credit for doing so. The clock doesn't lie, and this year Tsunoda outqualified Ricciardo 3-0 and appears to have a head start in terms of race pace.

Tsunoda did himself no favors with his behavior after the Bahrain Grand Prix, when he was angry at a team order to pass Ricciardo over for an unimportant position. He has since vowed to stop pressing his radio button when he feels frustrated in the race car, in an effort to change the way people perceive him. It's a smart approach: Multiple sources told ESPN that Red Bull's biggest concern with Tsunoda was his temperament.

Sources within Red Bull told ESPN that Horner was never convinced Tsunoda would do well in the pressure cooker environment alongside Verstappen. Horner alluded to it last year on the “eff won” podcast with Dax Shepard, joking about Tsunoda's profanity-laden messages during his first test with Red Bull before joining the program.

One of the reasons Pérez hasn't been fired is because he doesn't mess around internally and is considered incredibly easy to work with. Even when Pérez struggled so mightily last year, it was Ricciardo, not Tsunoda, who was constantly linked to the seat.

Changing the perception of his fiery temperament seems to be the biggest obstacle in his path at the moment. And it looks like Horner is going to need some convincing.

“Yuki is a very fast driver, we know that, but I think we want to feel the best possible duo at Red Bull Racing and sometimes you also have to look outside the pool,” he said in Melbourne about Tsunoda's chances. to join Red Bull in 2025. “You had a driver out of work very quickly today. The market is reasonably fluid with some drivers.”

While this is an obvious reference to Sainz, sources also told ESPN that Horner is open to the idea of ​​bringing Albon back to the team he drove for in 2019 and 2020. That would likely mean another year for Pérez so the Thai driver can see out his contract at Williams.

It's hard to say where all this would lead Tsunoda. Many have speculated that Tsunoda will follow Honda to Aston Martin in 2026, but that is far from a sure thing. Team owner Lawrence Stroll's commitment to his son Lance Stroll's F1 career means there is only one seat at stake, and sources have told ESPN that Aston Martin was still in the running for Sainz's signature. They could also extend Fernando Alonso for a longer contract if he does not join Mercedes.

Either scenario would leave Tsunoda out in the cold. And several sources close to Tsunoda told ESPN that he wants to prove himself within the Red Bull program rather than simply being labeled as a driver who follows Honda everywhere he goes.

The coming weeks could well bring clarity to the situation around Pérez's seat, with real movement in the drivers' market in the weeks leading up to the Miami Grand Prix in early May.