Daniel Ricciardo drops devastating truth bomb after Grand Prix nightmare

Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has opened up after his nightmare season reached a new low at his home Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo drops brutal truth bomb after Aus GP nightmare. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

Daniel Ricciardo has opened up after his 2024 Formula 1 season reached worrying depths at the Australian Grand Prix.

For the first time Down Under the Aussie driver was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday after his lap time was deleted after he exceeded track limits.

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The 34-year-old was on the cusp of missing the second session when he produced a flying lap that put him into P11.

But shortly after the opening session, the Aussie was relegated back to 18th on the grid after all four tyres left the track between turns 4 and 5.

Visa Cash App RB team principal Laurent Mekies was dejected, but said the signs were looking up for Ricciardo.

The eight-time race winner however was far more downcast and left at a loss to explain the speed gap between him and teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

“I felt like I got everything out of it, and then when I saw it still wasn’t good enough, let’s say compared to Yuki, that for me is … yeah, I’m still a bit puzzled,” he said.

“Because I know what those laps normally mean, and I crossed the line being like, ‘yeah, that was a good one’, but those ones are normally enough, more than enough, and it’s still not.

“And then looking at the time he’s doing in Q2, I could tell you now, I can’t get seven more tenths out of it than what I got in Q1.

“So I’m sure there’s a bit of track evo (evolution), but honestly there’s still some things we’ve got to look at, because it’s been definitely a struggle so far.”

Ricciardo is at a loss to describe the pace difference. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

Ricciardo said car changes after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix showed some promise in terms of closing the gap to Tsunoda, but the issue now remains.

“It looked like it was better, but I’m still not fully convinced,” he said, “Like I said, we still feel like we’re struggling more than we normally are in a car that again I’m pretty happy with.

“It’s actually been a pretty nice car to drive. Just the lap time is proving otherwise.”

He added that it’s “painful” to be starting his home Grand Prix in 18th position but is hopeful of “charging through the field”.

He’ll have his hands full during the race. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

The fact Ricciardo isn’t sure where the issue lies is the more concerning factor, according to Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff.

“I think there’s more to it. I think, from what we hear there, he doesn’t really understand where it’s all going wrong,” she said.

“Because to him it feels like the lap time should be showing up but it’s not. So that’s even worse, when you can’t pinpoint and target exactly where you need to make improvements. It’s harder to fix the problem.”

Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok said Ricciardo will need to remain patient at a track where high attrition is not uncommon.

“He’s just going to have to survive in some ways because this is a track where we’ve seen incidents and there’s a bit of jeopardy involved,” he said.

“Maybe that is something where he’s just going to play the long game and try to stay clean for the first lap and see how it unfolds.”

The Australian Grand Prix gets underway from 3pm (AEDT)