F1 world champion Alan Jones fears Daniel Ricciardo's “best days” are behind him and says he needs more help to return to Red Bull or achieve a “more competitive” run. He warns that much must be done.
There was great intrigue and momentum surrounding Ricciardo as he embarked on the 2024 F1 season with Red Bull's rebranded junior team, but the team was set to audition for a return to the senior team in 2025. However, auditions have not yet been held. We got off to a good start.
Daniel Ricciardo 'treads water' to return to Red Bull
Ricciardo lost in qualifying to teammate Hiroki Tsunoda in the opening races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the latter race being a very disappointing result for Ricciardo. Although he was not saved by a 41-second pit stop, he was passed by Tsunoda and also suffered a fall. He spun effortlessly towards the end of the race and moved up to 16th place.
The Australian insists that RB has found some problems with the VCARB01 and that the fixes are known, and insists that things could get better soon, but his compatriot and 1980 World champion Jones fears the situation is becoming increasingly unstable for Ricciardo.
Ricciardo suggests blaming the car is a repeat and not a positive trend, with the 34-year-old feeling well ahead of his home race at Albert Park as prospects of a Red Bull return fade. He warned me that I needed to raise it.
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Sergio Perez followed in the footsteps of teammate Max Verstappen, a three-time world champion, with P2 finishes on both occasions, beginning his bid to continue Red Bull's impressive run.
“I think [Ricciardo] I would agree with that,” Jones told the Herald Sun about Ricciardo needing to improve. “Regardless of his bad luck, I'm sure Daniel wants to do better than he has so far.
“At the end of the day, you can't keep blaming the car and it's been a bit of a trend so far.
“I want to see Daniel do very well in Melbourne and I want to see Daniel do very well over the period.
“But I just think if he's going to have a chance of getting back into the Red Bull team or back into a more competitive car, his luck is going to need to change, or he needs to improve his game. I think there will be.
“He's treading water. He needs to do really well and put on a good show, but he can't stay where he is.
“I hate to say it, but I think I had the best days.” [from Ricciardo]. No matter what people say, he drove some decent cars.
“Alpine or McLaren, the car he's in now… at the end of the day he has to beat his teammate for the start.
“I want him to be super competitive and be able to challenge for points, but I think some things probably need to change before we see that.”
Ricciardo and his RB team are aiming for their first points of the 2024 F1 season.
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