Daniel Ricciardo trying so hard not to say three words after performance U-turn
Daniel Ricciardo appears to be doing everything he can to avoid saying three words that would be highly embarrassing for his team.
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Daniel Ricciardo appears to be doing everything he can to avoid saying the three words that would be highly embarrassing for his team.
The Australian has this weekend bounced back from a woeful start to the 2024 Formula 1 season and will start from the sixth row of the grid in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
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The 34-year-old entered the fifth race weekend with serious question marks hanging overhead after failing to keep up with his Visa CashApp RB teammate.
Yuki Tsunoda held all the cards in the head-to-head battle between the pair, but that all changed at the Shanghai International Circuit.
After out-qualifying Tsunoda in the sprint race qualifying, Ricciardo finished well ahead of his teammate during the race, crossing the line 11th while the Japanese driver came 16th.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner then proved his form turnaround was no fluke as he took the chocolates in qualifying for Sunday’s race.
Ricciardo’s positive turnaround comes on the same weekend where his VCARB01 was fitted with a new chassis.
The veteran driver earlier this year made a public call for the team to change the chassis. The team insisted there was nothing wrong with it.
The team also stated the eventual decision to fit Ricciardo’s car with a new chassis was made by the team’s engineers to give the Australian a mental boost.
From the small sample size of this weekend, it appears Ricciardo was right all along that something was off with his chassis.
After Saturday’s sprint race and qualifying, Ricciardo appeared to be doing everything he could not to utter the phrase “told you so”.
Ricciardo’s subtle comments show how much he wanted to say it, but he has clearly put a muzzle on himself on the subject — at least for now.
“It feels like a more normal weekend,” Ricciardo said, according to autosport.com.
Following a chassis change on his side of the RB garage, Daniel Ricciardo has been well clear of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda this weekend.
— The Race (@wearetherace) April 20, 2024
He's not saying it's because of the new chassis... but he's not *not* saying that, either. pic.twitter.com/r7B6yGMN1n
“I would say from the get-go, from yesterday morning, we kind of just felt like we’re in a better place and everything came - I don’t want to say easier, because that sounds too easy - but yeah, it just kind of came a bit more seamlessly so far this weekend. It’s encouraging, obviously.
“We did change chassis, [but] I don’t want to jump on that yet and be like, it’s definitely that. Obviously, we need to prove that over the course of a few races. But yeah, there was obviously something with the change this weekend.
“So far, it’s been my best weekend of the year. So, whether it’s that or whether it’s just I’ve always kind of done well around here, we’ll see. We’ll see in Miami, and Imola and maybe the next few [races] if it continues.”
He said he will have to wait five races before the new chassis can be properly measured against the old one.
“If the next five completely do this kind of 180, so to speak, then I would have confidence in saying alright, well, maybe we will never know what it was,” he said.
“Something didn’t make me feel right with obviously the previous chassis I was racing.
“I would love to be here in five races’ time and say that, because then it means the season has definitely turned around and I’ve kind of got that monkey off our back.
“We’ll see. But I’m encouraged so far with the two days we’ve had here.”
Tsunoda on Saturday struggled to get his Visa Cash App RB up to speed as he was knocked out in the opening session and will start the race from 19th on the grid.
Ricciardo showed far more promise and blitzed his way around the track to just miss out on the third and final session.
His time will see him start the race from 12th, on the sixth row alongside Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
“Yeah I’m excited for tomorrow,” Ricciardo said over the radio after finishing the second session.
It was a mixed day for fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri after his pace during Saturday’s sprint race raised eyebrows among the commentary crew.
ultimately saw him finish in fifth place.
CHINA GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
Front row: 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Sergio Perez
Second row: 3. Fernando Alonso, 4. Lando Norris
Third row: 5. Oscar Piastri, 6. Charles Leclerc
Fourth row: 7. Carlos Sainz, 8. George Russell
Fifth row: 9. Nico Hulkenberg, 10. Valtteri Bottas
Sixth row: 11. Lance Stroll, 12. Daniel Ricciardo
Seventh row: 13. Esteban Ocon, 14. Alex Albon
Eighth row: 15. Pierre Gasly, 16. Zhou Guanyu
Ninth row: 17. Kevin Magnussen, 18. Lewis Hamilton
Tenth row: 19. Yuki Tsunoda, 20. Logan Sargeant
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