F1 2024: Former world champion says Daniel Ricciardo is ‘treading water’ ahead of the Australian GP

Australia will have two drivers on the grid at Albert Park this year but the duo arrive in Melbourne with very differing fortunes. Former world champion Alan Jones rates their prospects.

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – MARCH 09: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Visa Cash App RB prepares to drive in the garage during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 09, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Former world champion Alan Jones says Daniel Ricciardo is “treading water” in his rebooted Formula 1 career and suggested his “best days” as a driver are behind him as he backed Oscar Piastri to push onto the podium at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne this week.

Australia will have two drivers on the grid for the first time since 2013 at the Albert Park race, but Ricciardo and McLaren young gun Piastri arrive in Melbourne for their home Grand Prix with differing fortunes.

As he fights for a seat at Red Bull next year, pressure is ramping up on Ricciardo after a difficult start to the 2024 Formula 1 season in the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with the rebranded RB team.

The eight-time Grand Prix winner finished 13th in the season-opening race amid tensions with teammate Yuki Tsunoda and then finished 16th in Jeddah after a poor qualifying performance and a bizarre late-race spin.

In contrast, Piastri gave his hopes of scoring a podium at his hometown race a shot in the arm after he finished fourth in Saudi Arabia, which pushed him to fifth in the driver standings.

Piastri’s form has raised hopes of a breakthrough podium for an Australian driver at their home Grand Prix.

Is Ricciardo’s best behind him? Former F1 champion Alan Jones believes so. Picture: Getty Images

Jones, Australia’s last F1 world champion, said the fortunes of both Australian drivers could not be further apart ahead of the Albert Park race as he described Ricciardo’s start to the season as “disappointing”.

He added Ricciardo needed to “lift his game” if he was to have any chance of succeeding in his bid to secure a Red Bull seat for 2025.

“One is going extremely well and the other is going fairly ordinary,” Jones said of Australia’s two drivers.

“I think (Ricciardo) would even agree with that. Bad luck, or otherwise, I’m sure Daniel would like to have had better results than what he has had.

“At the end of the day we can’t be blaming the car all the time, which has been a bit of a tendency in the past.

“I would love to see Daniel go extremely well in Melbourne, I would like to see Daniel go extremely well period.

“But I just think that his luck is going to have to change or he is going to have to lift his game if he has got any chance of getting back in that Red Bull team or getting back into a more competitive car.

“He (Ricciardo) is treading water. He really needs to have some very good results and put up a good show, he can’t be dwelling down where he is.”

Australia’s most recent F1 champion Alan Jones has been very critical of Ricciardo’s recent form. Picture: Getty Images

JOB TO DO

Since returning to the Formula 1 grid midway through last year after a six-month sabbatical from the sport following his after being axed by McLaren, Ricciardo has made no secret of his ambition to reclaim a seat at Red Bull.

The 34-year-old was a seven-time race winner at Red Bull before he walked away from the team at the end of 2018 to join Renault (now Alpine).

Asked if Ricciardo still had the potential to be a race winner or championship challenger if he could get back to a top team, Jones suggested his best racing days could be behind him.

“I hate to say it, but I think we have seen the best days (from Ricciardo),”Jones said.

“He has had his bum in a few decent cars, irrespective of what people say.

“The Alpine or the McLaren, the car that he is in right now … at the end of the day he has got to start beating his teammate for a start.

“I would love him to become super competitive and be up there challenging in the points, but I just think that maybe a couple of things have got to change before we see that.”

Ricciardo is hopeful of a seat at Red Bull in 2025. Picture: Getty Images

Not helping Ricciardo’s bid for a Red Bull homecoming, Jones said, was the early season form of the driver he would be hoping to usurp – Sergio Perez – for a seat alongside world champion Max Verstappen.

Jones said the Mexican, who has finished second to Verstappen in the first two races, had so far done everything that the team needed him to do.

“That’s what Sergio is, he is a good No. 2, he is a good No. 2 to Max,” Jones said.

“He is not a number one by any stretch of the imagination, but he is doing what the team expects of him.”

 PIASTRI PODIUM PROMISE

The Melbourne prospects look much brighter for Piastri after a strong start to his 2024 campaign.

Picking up where he left off in an impressive debut F1 season with McLaren which saw him crowned FIA’s Rookie of the Year, Piastri has finished among the points in the opening two races.

The 22-year-old was eighth in the season-opening Bahrain race and backed up with fourth in Jeddah where he beat his highly- rated teammate Lando Norris (eighth).

Piastri sits ahead of Norris (eighth) in the driver standings and just two points behind Mercedes’ fourth-placed George Russell.

Jones rated the prospects of Piastri delivering Australian fans a podium to celebrate as strong.

Ricciardo finished the race in second position at Albert Park when he was at Red Bull in 2014, but was later disqualified after his car was found to have exceeded the legal fuel flow rate.

Piastri finished eighth in his Albert Park debut last year, but McLaren’s outlook has improved since the start of last season.

Will Piastri place higher than he did in 2023 next weekend? Picture: Getty Images

“Oscar is going extremely well, he is always up there in the top six or eight and I think all things being equal he has got a very good chance of being on the podium in Melbourne,” Jones said.

“I don’t think he could be doing much better, quite frankly. He has done everything that the team has asked of him and he continues to show the talent that he has got.

“Lando is a very talented, excellent Formula 1 driver and I think for him to go off and beat him, it goes to show the standard of talent that he has got.”

FUTURE CHAMPION

There have been high expectations of Piastri since his arrival in F1 after winning the F3 and F2 feeder series.

Jones said Piastri was “absolutely” a future Formula 1 world champion.

“There is no question about that,” Jones said.

“I think if you put him in a Red Bull or a Ferrari – but that’s not to say the McLaren is not a good car, I think that they are making good headwind.

Jones believes Piastri could be the next Australian world champion. Picture: Getty Images

“For sure, he has got the talent to be able to go on and be a world champion.”

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner agreed Piastri had the talent to make it to the top in F1.

“Obviously he needs to be in the right equipment at the right time,” Steiner said.

“But if you look at his career, he won F3, he won F2, last year he had a good showing because Lando Norris is no fool, you know to fight with Lando sometimes, Lando is one of the best drivers out there from the younger generation.

“I think it is a good future, he just needs to be calm and take his time to build up and then try to get in the best car possible to win a championship.

“But talent-wise, I think he is pretty talented.”

Originally published as F1 2024: Former world champion says Daniel Ricciardo is ‘treading water’ ahead of the Australian GP