The Daniel Ricciardo Predicament

It is hardly a statement of doubt and rather of much certainty that former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has been facing a testing time in his career. As a matter of fact, this might well be the hardest or the most testing phase of his F1 career that clearly extends over a decade in Motorsport’s top flight.

Having said that, having not scored that many points as on date in the 2024 season might not be the only reason that explains Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles. In the same car in which he experiences current struggles, Daniel Ricciardo’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda has already scored some points.

Interestingly, the talented Japanese driver has done so on multiple occasions where the current F1 season is concerned. Before striking a hat trick of point scoring performances as evident at the events at Miami, Emilia Romagna and the Monaco, Yuki had already scored a few points at Australia and Japan; his best performance remains the P7 he scored at Melbourne.

In that sense what underlines Daniel Ricciardo’s plight the most is that while a driver several years younger and hence, inexperienced than him is seeming just fine in that car, the multiple F1 Grand Prix winner from Perth is found struggling.

Moreover, it doesn’t help Ricciardo’s future bid to remain in the sport and hope for a consistent spot.

Just once this year has the man who will soon turn 35 scored points in a race. What could get worse? That being told, in the sport’s most recent Grand Prix event that take place at the Circuit de Catalunya-bound Spanish Grand Prix, the much experienced F1 driver scored a P15, which again didn’t help his cause.

To explain his plight, it might help to reflect on how the man himself described the race at Spain. He would gone to say that the event was a frustrating experience and from the beginning of the weekend, there was a general lack of pace. The same being evident right from the start of the Free practice session and ultimately playing out in the main race.

A light of positivity for Daniel Ricciardo?

Having said that, truth be told, there are little positives where it concerns Daniel Ricciardo. As a matter o fact, the Spanish Grand Prix was the second race in succession where the man who has to his name 249 race starts finished ahead of his teammate.

While Ricciardo scored a fighting eighth at the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, the occasion where he finally opened his account, he scored a fifteenth as seen recently at Spain. Tsunoda, on the other hand, finished on fourteenth (P14) and nineteenth (P19), respectively, in these races.

Surely, Ricciardo would want to prove his worth to his detractors most importantly for his own good knowing well that he has in him what it takes to succeed. But there’s quite a long way to go. He will have to put in something extra or special to clear, at least, some dark clouds hovering over his F1 future.