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Daniel Ricciardo reveals “self-therapy after Monaco” amid worries that his RB schedule is hindering his performances
Daniel Ricciardo driving his RB at the Canadian Grand Prix. (Image Credit: @visacashapprb on X)So far in 2024, Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t exactly set the track alight. The Aussie sits P12 in the drivers’ championship, two places behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. The RB driver also had a rough weekend away from the track last time out in Montreal.
Not only did he see his teammate receive a contract extension for next season, something he is yet to secure, but he also took a barrage of criticism. 1997 Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve was highly critical of the RB driver, questioning why he remained in the sport.
"Why's he still in F1?" ?
Jacques Villeneuve gives his verdict on Daniel Ricciardo's future ?? pic.twitter.com/fDqNhvMah0
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 7, 2024
This was swiftly followed by comments from Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko, who said the following about Ricciardo’s performances in 2024 so far:
“The rest is not impressive yet.”
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, Ricciardo questioned his recent performances. He told RacingNews365 he wondered whether he was “coming into a race weekend not feeling energised or not feeling this or that?” He engaged in “good self-therapy” and pondered if he was “giving too much away to people,” leaving him feeling “flat” on race day.
This led the Aussie to host an “open book” talk with his team to determine why Tsunoda was outperforming him. On the topic of the meeting, Ricciardo said:
“It was open book, constructive criticism, give it to me. What do you think I can clean up? Where do you feel I’m maybe missing something?”
He continued, “A lot of it was just managing my energy management over the course of the weekend. It’s not even what I’m doing in the car. It’s just what gets me into the car feeling like I’m ready to go. It was just trying to clean up some of those things, and if there was anything on my mind, trying to get it off my chest.”
Afterwards, he felt “lighter, hungry, and happy” after making sure that the team was being completely honest with him.
Could Ricciardo’s seat be in danger?
The Red Bull teams are cementing their drivers for the upcoming season. While Max Verstappen already had a contract for 2025, Sergio Perez and Tsunoda have both signed on the dotted line recently. Now, that just leaves one seat left in the Red Bull/RB stable, with Ricciardo and Liam Lawson fighting over it.
On the topic of the final seat available, Marko reiterated that:
“In general terms, RB is a junior team, so we have to see what happens.”
Of course, the Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri/RB team’s primary objective is to find the stars of the future for the main team. Could Ricciardo’s experience work against him as he tries to stay in Formula One?
Feature Image Credit: @visacashapprb on X