Daniel Ricciardo says he is ignoring speculation about his F1 career amid rumours that he could leave Red Bull mid-season if his career doesn’t do so soon.
Returning to a full-time F1 seat in mid-2023, Ricciardo entered the new season hiding his ambition to regain his old Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen.
However, the 34-year-old finds himself fighting for his long F1 career, having been behind RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first 3 races.
While Tsunoda made it to Q3 in Saudi Arabia and Australia, finishing seventh in Melbourne, creating major problems for the Red Bull junior team, Ricciardo is yet to finish above 12th so far in 2024.
Helmut Marko, a long-time Red Bull advisor, has pressed Ricciardo in recent weeks to warn the Australian that he “has to locate something soon” before claiming that any of the RB drivers are “too slow” in race conditions.
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Reports this week indicated that Ricciardo could be replaced by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in early May. PlanetF1. com understands that rumours that Ricciardo is at immediate risk of wasting his seat are premature.
Addressing the hypotheses at his home race at Albert Park last weekend, Ricciardo insisted he refused to pay attention to rumours about his future.
According to Motorsport. com, he said, “As far as noise, other people tell me, like in the media, that they say, ‘Oh, so-and-so he said. ‘That’s the first time I’ve heard.
“It’s clearly not disrespectful to [the media], but I know I’m in this little procedure or this little adventure right now and I just want to do it with myself.
“If I let the noise in, it will distract me from the path I’m on. “
“I didn’t let any of that negative stuff leak out. “
Ricciardo’s poor start to the 2024 season comes after he overqualified Tsunoda for his first race at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, just weeks before he was ruled out for five races after breaking his hand in a crash test at Zandvoort.
The former Renault and McLaren driver has been left speechless due to his lack of progress since his return, admitting that he is confident he can start the new crusade much more potently after a full pre-season with RB.
He explained: “I didn’t expect to start the season like this.
“Last year in Budapest I drove the car a day earlier, then overtook Yuki and did a good race, and without any knowledge.
“And after having a full pre-season and all that, and all the races last year, I honestly thought this year we would start a lot stronger. “
“So everything I don’t understand, not only me, but some other people wonder why.
“I think the thing is, I’m staying the course.
“It’s just that my head is full of nonsense or something. Honestly, I feel good.
“And unfortunately, the effects didn’t make me feel good. But deep down, behind the wheel, I feel good, excited and I just need to keep racing. “
“And I’m sure I’ll find a little bit more in myself, and I keep thinking maybe we’ll find something in the car. “
Ricciardo insists there have been occasional glimmers of hope with the RB in the first 3 races and is keen to distance his existing struggles from his past struggles at McLaren, where he claimed he lacked confidence before retiring at the end of 2022.
He said: “I think there have been times when it seems more encouraging.
“Even there I still have some feedback for the team, even when we pass fast, I think I’m still missing some things, but a little bit more encouraging and we’ll keep improving. “
“What I clearly want to reiterate to the team is that it’s not a question of trust. It’s not something like, “What is this car going to do when it brakes or when it turns?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I feel like I’m not able to take care of speed, maybe, and I see that Yuki is capable of it.
“So [I have to] see what I can do and I also ask a lot of questions to the team. It’s a two-part process.
“I ask the team a lot of questions and we will have some elements in the car in the next two races.
“I expect it to be a pretty quick turnaround and, before you know it, we’ll be doing really well again. I’m on it, so hopefully we can buck the trend.
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