“I don’t what you did to him,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner remarked last year to his opposite number at McLaren, Zak Brown.
He was talking about Daniel Ricciardo, who had returned to the Red Bull fold after Brown cut short his three-year deal to drive for McLaren one season early. Horner was commenting on Ricciardo looking physically fitter than he had the previous season, but also had plenty to say about how the former Red Bull junior’s driving appeared to have deteriorated since leaving the team at the end of 2018.
“The problem is when you drive a car that obviously has its limitations, you adapt and you try and adjust to extract the maximum out of that car,” said Horner. “It was clear when he came back, that he picked up some habits that… we didn’t recognise as the Daniel that that had left us two or three years earlier.”
A few months later Red Bull put Ricciardo in one of their cars for a tyre test. The Netflix cameras were on hand to capture the redemptive moment for the Drive to Survive star and Red Bull duly declared his run a success. Nyck de Vries, not yet halfway through his rookie season at Red Bull’s second team AlphaTauri, was shown the door to make way for Ricciardo’s comeback to an F1 race seat.
After being knocked off his stride by a wrist injury which temporarily put him back on the sidelines, Ricciardo’s performance in the Mexican Grand Prix soon after his return seemed to vindicate Red Bull’s faith in him. He put his AT04 fourth on the grid, ahead of Sergio Perez, whose poor campaign last year long marked him out as a target for replacement. Ricciardo finished seventh and was on course for better before a mid-race red flag.
With AlphaTauri transforming into RB this year, and declaring they would use Red Bull’s dominant design as a reference for this year’s car, expectations were high for Ricciardo. At the team’s launch he targeted top five finishes in the first half of the season.
But three races in he is yet to score a point. Yuki Tsunoda delivered the first score for the renamed RB team last weekend, while Ricciardo failed to reach Q2.
Ricciardo, who has won eight grands prix and started well over 200, was predicted by many to spend 2024 putting Tsunoda in the shade while staking his claim to a return to Red Bull next year. Instead rumours have already begun circulating that he may not see out the season.
Although recent claims RB might replace him with his Ricciardo substitute Liam Lawson as early as the Miami Grand Prix appear to be wide of the mark, Red Bull have a track record of being unafraid to cut their losses with a driver. De Vries wasn’t the first to be shown the door mid-season: In 2016 Red Bull ejected Ricciardo’s then-team mate Daniil Kvyat just four races into the season.
Perhaps Ricciardo is just one, confidence-inspiring RB upgrade away from proving he’s not lost his touch. Or perhaps Red Bull are discovering why McLaren showed him the door to begin with. How long should his team be prepared to wait to find out?
I say
What happened to Ricciardo during his temporary, self-imposed exile from Red Bull is one of the most curious examples of a driver losing their way in recent years. His jovial, made-for-Netflix nature makes him an easy target for critics when he’s not performing, but you only have to look back at some of his performances at the closing end of last season to see he can still perform.
But only turning up occasionally is not good enough at this level, particularly give Ricciardo’s clear desire to return to the seat alongside Verstappen he relinquished at the end of 2018.
Today’s F1 seasons are so long that dropping a driver before the year is over is no longer the shock it once seemed. Red Bull have the luxury of a second F1 team precisely so they can test new talent for the main squad. Ricciardo doesn’t look like hitting that brief any time soon.
With Lawson kicking his heels on the sidelines, if Ricciardo hasn’t shown Red Bull something by the summer break it would be hard to argue against them giving their new junior driver the seat. But that would almost certainly mean an end to Ricciardo’s career as an F1 driver, which would be a sad thing to see.
You say
How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo at RB before he either raises his game or they give someone else a chance to show what they can do? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
How long should Red Bull keep Ricciardo in RB?
- No opinion (3%)
- Beyond the end of the year (1%)
- Until the end of the year (19%)
- Until the summer break (round 14) (30%)
- Until the British Grand Prix (round 12) (13%)
- Until the Miami Grand Prix (round six) (20%)
- Replace him now (14%)
Total Voters: 166
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Tristan
31st March 2024, 9:32
Said this before and will say it again. Ricciardo is a walking billboard. That is his role. F1 is more than ever entertainment, over sport. It’s just about people in seats and eyeballs on screen. I don’t think VISA Cashapp care at all how he performs as long as sky keep bringing him on for a post-race interview and his pearly grin is placed right above their logo.
He’ll see the year out at least.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
31st March 2024, 9:59
I think you’re spot on in this case.
Ricciardo has much more commercial value than Kvyat & DeVries, and that is the deciding factor.
Retired (@jeff1s)
1st April 2024, 8:55
A billboard for what? The guy is not young, not fast and not appealing. Yes he’s often all smiles but that’s about it. A smile doesn’t help the car going quicker. He knows he’s washed, he knows he’s lucky to have Max and Christian on his sides. But he’s no one. I only see his face when I watch Formula 1.
Mooa42
2nd April 2024, 3:26
I fear that his pearly grin is disappearing when all the questions are about his poor performance. He is not the happy honey badger he once was, more just badger!
Mayrton
2nd April 2024, 7:06
You are right. From a sporting perspective however I would have dropped him before the season started.
V. Chris (@vasschu)
31st March 2024, 9:50
He should never have started the season in the first place. However, since he did, let’s give him quarter of a season to try and bounce up. If he improves, let’s say half a season. Unless he regularly beats Yuki, there is no point of keeping him till the end.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:20
He’s had 10 races now, like De Vries
pete
31st March 2024, 9:59
He’s already showed them what they needed to know and he won’t be moving up to Red Bull. It’s just a matter of when they decide it’s the right time for someone else is ready to take his seat.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
31st March 2024, 10:04
3 weeks ago I’d have said wait and see til the summer break. With rumours that Max may genuinely move on sooner rather than later, I’d be fast tracking that to replace him with Lawson this weekend. With Ferrari showing some genuine pace and McLaren still on the up, there’s no guarantee of Red Bull taking the championship without Max. I don’t expect Sergio to hang around beyond this year. Who’s going to lead the team? I’d be getting Sainz onboard for next year. If Max hangs around, great, they have a solid number 2. If Max moves on, they have a decent enough number 1 with Lawson alongside Sainz with effectively a full year of experience. As much as I’d love to see Alonso in the Red Bull, he’s not the future. Sainz and Lawson sure can be.
Avro Anson (@avroanson)
31st March 2024, 10:35
I’ve been a Ricciardo fan since Day 1 – he grew up just a few kilometres from where I live. However, I think it unlikely that he will ever recover a consistent level of performance to justify an ongoing presence in Formula 1. More in hope than optimism I voted to give him until the summer break. If he hasn’t shown a very conspicuous improvement by then, it’s time to give the seat to a young up-and-comer.
Daniel will always be a hot commercial property, even if he isn’t driving.
pez2k (@pez2k)
31st March 2024, 13:20
Yep, I like Ricciardo as a character and he’s shown great talent in the past, but there’s a point at which I’d prefer to see new drivers getting their chance over the regular faces sticking around for decades. The likes of Lawson and Bearman have shown that the sport is teeming with skilful young drivers who deserve a permanent place in the lineup, and if Ricciardo can’t outrace them then it’s time for him to move on. Imagine what the sport would have lost out on if McLaren had stuck with the safe and experienced De la Rosa for 2007!
Good point too about how valuable Ricciardo is outside of a driving role – as an RB ambassador he’d add just as much value as he did during his injury last year while allowing fresh talent to race.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
1st April 2024, 11:38
Yes I agree with this. I have always liked him. Give him until the summer break was how I voted.
I have an opinion
31st March 2024, 10:37
Keep him until 2026 when the new regulations come in. These upcoming cars are more likely to suit his style.
Jere (@jerejj)
31st March 2024, 10:57
Too early to judge.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:21
Not worth the investment tbh. Again older drivers blocking young drivers from opportunities is rubbish
Jere (@jerejj)
31st March 2024, 10:58
Until the Miami GP or Monaco GP which would mean five more rounds at max.
Simon
31st March 2024, 14:27
Bookmarked
Salty (@salty)
31st March 2024, 11:06
Danny Ricc used to beam from our screens full of bonhomie and bravado. Alas, these days there’s a pained expression around they eyes which belies his own turmoil at his lack of pace. His on-track manoeuvres feel mistimed and reactive. He has ceased to be a joy to watch racing, maybe time to bring his megawatt smile and charm to a presenting role.
Sham (@sham)
31st March 2024, 11:15
One of the most overrated drivers in F1 history. If it wasn’t for his character, he wouldn’t be in F1 at all.
He still has good drives in him, but so does Lance Stroll, and you wouldn’t have him in a car based on his talent.
Avro Anson (@avroanson)
31st March 2024, 12:16
That’s a bit harsh. Ricciardo was third in the championship on two occasions and has had 8 race wins (as many as Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Russell combined). No way he can be compared with Stroll. Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s brilliance seems to have deserted him, and it’s probably time to hang up the helmet.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
31st March 2024, 13:08
It’s a bit harsh to add Norris to bulk up a list of drivers who have had race wins.
notagrumpyfan
31st March 2024, 13:42
Why would that be harsh?
Ricciardo won a race whilst Norris was in the same team, and it can be argued that on average Norris had a better car than Ricciardo.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
31st March 2024, 13:42
I think it makes the points: all those 4 drivers are among the best on the grid nowadays, and combining their wins you get the amount of wins ricciardo has. Particularly, most if not all of ricciardo’s wins were well deserved, not driving a dominant car from pole to win with no challenge.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
31st March 2024, 14:42
What I am saying is that you might as well add Hulkenburg and Piastri and whatever other driver hasn’t won a race to that list. Make another list without stating that it as a list of race winners that add up to Ricciardo’s total if you want to.
SteveP
31st March 2024, 17:21
I think the point Ferrox was making is that the number remains the same when you remove Norris from the list.
Whilst he has featured on the podium, Norris has the same win total as Mazepin (Thankfully, Norris has a much higher level of driving talent)
MichaelN
31st March 2024, 16:01
This is true. However, the problem with both of those achievements is that time is ticking on.
He finished the seasons in third in 2014 and 2016. In what was clearly the 2nd best car that season, that is ‘doing the job’. Of course it adds to the shine that he (usually) outpaced Vettel in 2014, but how long can you sustain a career off of that?
His wins are similarly getting on in age. Three in 2014, now ten years ago. One in 2016 and one in 2017. Two more in 2018, and after that just one more fluke-ish win in 2021, a season in which he was otherwise very underwhelming.
As for the others, while Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Russell each had opportunities to win more than they did, or win at all in Norris’ case, there aren’t that many. That is partly their own fault, but also the consequence of them driving in an era of unprecedented dominance by single teams – first Mercedes, now Red Bull. And when Leclerc had the 2nd best car, he won twice in 2019* and three times in 2022. Not dissimilar to what Ricciardo did at the height of his career.
*It could very well have been four had Vettel not put in a surprisingly fast in/outlap in Singapore. And Leclerc was, somewhat questionably, swapped into the lead in Russia but then Vettel’s subsequent retirement led to a VSC in which both Mercedes made their stop, propelling them ahead of the Ferrari.
GH
2nd April 2024, 18:17
Good point on the wins ‘getting on in age’. 2014 – 2018 is a while ago…
MacLeod (@macleod)
2nd April 2024, 7:51
Some drivers are losing the edge when they get older … Like Vetel very fast when young but after he had kids he became slower each year.
Give Daniel the same as de Vries untill the summer break………….
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
4th April 2024, 2:25
Indeed. Seems someone isn’t aware of history and demonstrated capability.
Whether he can demonstrate it now, is another debate. But saying he’s overrated… I don’t think anyone is overrating RIC at all.
Mahesh (@m47e57)
31st March 2024, 11:58
I’m sure he’ll get his mojo back. Maybe he could go to Mercedes?!!
Jere (@jerejj)
31st March 2024, 15:17
I doubt they’d even consider him because of how much he’s struggled post-2020.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:24
Waiting for mojo can be translated as endless excuses sadly. He needs to go
MichaelN
31st March 2024, 12:13
2018 is a long time ago in sporting terms. He gambled he could lead Renault to wins, that didn’t work out. He gambled on Mclaren, where he was comprehensively outclassed by Norris – with the somewhat ironic footnote that he did take the only race McLaren won. He got a lifeline thrown after Red Bull was done with De Vries, but hasn’t really impressed since either.
Ricciardo had a few good seasons, but he couldn’t take that next step. No shame, it’s more common than the other way around. But how many drivers are still hired on the promise they showed over a decade ago? Not many. Even the adolescent humour tends to fall a bit flat when the guy is about to be 35.
Nick T.
2nd April 2024, 4:46
He was great at Renault too. Sadly, while he seems to be a solid driver now and doing better than his time at McLaren (he has had a lot of bad luck that have made average races look like bad races), he certainly isn’t demonstrating anything that warrants keeping him around. I also think Yuki is a lot faster (especially over one lap) than he gets credit for, which makes Ricciardo look worse than he while Yuki isn’t getting the praise he deserves.
There is one thing I believe, which is that DR would come alive if he were in the RBR and at least do better than Checo. He seems to have been made to drive the RBR/a similar setup to the one Max likes. It’s too bad there hasn’t been a need for a one-race sub for Checo like we’ve seen happen to many drivers.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
31st March 2024, 12:23
I’m fairly confident that Dan will call time if he doesn’t believe he can step up rather than get pushed.
It’s possible that the requirements to drive these cars just don’t translate to some drivers and I suspect that there’s more than just him having issues.
Is it possible that Mercedes biggest issue isn’t the car but the fact that Hamilton can’t get confident with the feel of this type of car. Same for Bottas, Perez etc. each of them seem to be struggling to get the most out of their machinery, with the only one of the “old guard” that seems to being Alonso, which may just be testament to that man’s supreme skills.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
1st April 2024, 11:42
You make a good point. None of these drivers has seemed so confident as they were, with the ground effect cars.
Nick T.
2nd April 2024, 4:50
Alonso has always been ridiculously adaptable and Hamilton has often struggled with major spec changes and inconsistent chassis. Hamilton’s speed when he gets what he need though is likewise something to behold.
I wish the drivers weren’t coached as much. We’d get even more clarity of driver skill and capacity.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
4th April 2024, 2:26
@dbradock yeah I reckon the 2026 rules would probably suit him better… but that’s too far away—he needs to be quick now to prove he’s still worthy of a seat until then.
As a long time RIC fan, it’s been a tumultuous few years.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
31st March 2024, 12:30
For me the absolutely painful thing is hearing him say that the car and everything feels fine, but the time is bad. He’s driving well but there’s no speed – or at least no speed relative to Tsunoda who is arguably his benchmark now. And here we are again, like at McLaren, asking *why* he can’t find that groove and *why* his team-mate is outperforming him. I’d be sad to see him go as he’s been great to watch and I think a great advertiser for F1, but based on what we’ve seen so far and for the last few years you wouldn’t put his name in the hat for any of the top seats in F1.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:26
What people should be stating is Yuki is much faster than people give him credit for. Like how people describe Norris
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
4th April 2024, 2:29
Yes absolutely I agree. For him to be at an utter loss as to why the pace isn’t there is highly-concerning. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what that problem actually is. Being slow is the what, but without the why it’s impossible for fix.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
31st March 2024, 13:46
Interesting poll, I went for the race 12 option, I believe they don’t have to wait till summer break and half a season is more than enough to see if a driver is improving or not, if you check the mclaren situation, they waited a couple of years, but a consistent improvement wasn’t coming, so if they had made the decision after half a season they’d have been better off, and de vries wasn’t given many races either.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
31st March 2024, 14:06
Just as Hamilton has grown beyond the sporting part of the sport itself, so has Ricciardo. Ricciardo is part of the F1 furniture, meaning a key part of the F1 brand for some time now and is just too valuable for liberty to drop from the grid. Redbull will be pressured to find him a seat if they drop him and for a low pressure team like VCARB i don’t see them dropping him anytime soon. His commercial value is too much. He will retire on his own terms right there at VCARB or at Haas.
Nick T.
2nd April 2024, 4:57
That’s an extremely uncharitable and cynical view. The fact that a driver who was one of the best in the sport until he got to McLaren is getting what will likely be less than half a season to see if he can regain his form, since the upside would be massive, is hardly a reason to regard his presence as simply “furniture.” If they had an Antonelli in the pipeline I might disagree with him getting another shot, but Lawson is hardly an exciting prospect. Guy was tied with Sargeant in F2 and had one notable result in F1 that was entirely down to luck w/the highly improbable scenario of 5+ cars that were going to finish ahead of him dropping out for various reasons.
It seems like these overly negative opinions are the result of fans who have always disliked him or are so new to F1 they don’t know how good he was before his collapse in form.
Gerrit
31st March 2024, 14:35
Question is bigger than Riccardo’s commercial value (driving value certainly is not there) to the F1 brand. It is a question of where Lawson will go unless he gets a RB or Red Bull seat. Can Red Bull, as a 4 car team, afford to loose him? Can F1 afford to loose him?
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
31st March 2024, 14:44
Talk is that Daniel may get caught up in the Red Bull power struggle as the only reason he got the seat to begin with was because Christian wanted him in it, Marko’s preference was always Liam Lawson.
If Christian loses control of Red Bull then Daniel will be out at the same time but if Christian is able to stay then expect Daniel to see out the season & regardless of performance I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the main team next year irrespective of what Max does.
There is still a belief within the main team, including with Christian, that he’d do better in that car because it would suit him better than the RB as when he was there last time what he wanted from the car in terms of feeling & setup wasn’t that far off what max wanted.
Jere (@jerejj)
31st March 2024, 15:19
@gt-racer But hasn’t Marko always been the one with the final say on driver matters, though?
At least I’ve had this understanding, but I guess I was wrong this whole time.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
31st March 2024, 18:26
This has also always been my impression, example de vries: horner wasn’t convinced by his race at monza, it was marko who decided to go for it and eventually admitted horner was right.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
4th April 2024, 2:30
Maybe the De Vries situation is how Horner gained some further influence in the driver situation.
RR
31st March 2024, 15:02
With young talent waiting for places in F1, what is the point of hanging on to drivers who show they are no longer fast or sharp?
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
31st March 2024, 15:35
When given an opportunity to drive the best car on the grid he is almost as good as Verstappen. This is very similar to how George used to do when at Williams driving the Merc at season end test sessions.
Now put him a crap car and he is a crap driver as the car is incapable of getting results.
He can’t beat Tsunoda and that is his downfall to continue in F1, IMO.
Nick T.
2nd April 2024, 4:58
Agreed.
AlanD
31st March 2024, 15:52
Reading this article and the comments drives home how odd F1 is in sporting terms. Is there any other sport where the competitors are not in the elite leagues on pure merit? It doesn’t matter how many times you win in F2 or F3, that doesn’t give you a pathway to higher levels on merit.
In a few sports, like tennis, or snooker, there are wildcard entries for some tournaments which could be used to allow entry to players who have failed to qualify due to bad luck etc, but are sometimes used to include players for commercial reasons, because they are a crowd pleaser. But for the majority of players, you are judged on results, and if you win enough, you get into the next level automatically. You might get pay-to-play in the lower levels, but not in top flight sport.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
31st March 2024, 16:29
It is not so odd if you think of the driver as only being one member of a much larger team.
AlanD
31st March 2024, 17:34
Ferrox, I agree the team element changes things though not much. In football you have some great players who have never been in a championship or cup winning team because the rest of the team isn’t up to their level, but the other way around there is less tolerance for underperforming. You don’t get someone playing a highly-visible key role such as a goalkeeper just because their father owns the team or the sponsors gave them a ton of money to play him every weekend, and you also don’t call one individual out of the team “the world champion” at the end of the season.
MichaelN
31st March 2024, 16:46
Quite a few other sports also have a mismatch in the level of the ostensibly ‘highest’ competition, because at the international level the number of participating athletes is usually subject to a quota scheme based on nationality.
So whether it’s a cap on Germans in luge, Dutch in speed skating, Norwegians in biathlon, or whatever – the competition gets less interesting because these tend to be countries where even the 4th or 5th best are better than the national champions from other countries. It tends to be worst at the Olympics, where the number of participants per country can be rather low.
AlanD
31st March 2024, 17:44
Good examples Michael, though still the Germans who are actually entered into the luge, for example, is still based on objective values of the skill of those individuals. Whilst the quota system itself has drawbacks, you don’t get someone turning up at the Olympics who finished out of the qualifying spots in their regional competition, but their national committee had to pick them because of the amount of sponsorship riding on them.
MichaelN
31st March 2024, 22:57
This is admittedly a bit of a niche situation, but that is exactly what happened in speed skating in 2022.
The IOC only allows 9 male athletes to compete across the different speed skating disciplines. To that end, countries with more athletes have to organize a way to assign these nine places (this is mostly a problem in countries with a lot of speed skaters; so the Netherlands, Japan, Norway, etc.). Having done said qualifying races, the Dutch NOC then bumped two of the nine qualified athletes out. In their place, they picked two underperforming skaters from one of the big private teams for the Olympic roster, for the purpose of a three man team event, so they could race alongside the one athlete that did qualify on merit. Once at the Olympics they – unsurprisingly – underperformed again and promptly finished off the podium. In the normally quite civil world of speed skating, these shenanigans caused quite a bit of backlash. Especially when said private team later admitted they hadn’t really spent much time training for the team event.
AlanD
31st March 2024, 23:45
Michael, okay, F1 isn’t unique in this sense, but at least the speed skating community was outraged by it.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
31st March 2024, 16:21
Solitary sports are easy to accommodate extra competitors by just having more knock out rounds. A bit more tricky with team sports.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
31st March 2024, 17:24
If, as is widely suspected, the purpose of Ricciardo’s recall to AlphaTauri was to put pressure on Perez, then it clearly hasn’t worked. Perez has improved somewhat since his nadir of mid-2023, but at the same time we’ve seen nothing from Ricciardo that positions him as a legitimate threat to Perez’ seat.
Therefore there is no point in keeping Ricciardo around, and he should be immediately replaced with Lawson, with a view to evaluating which driver would be best placed to occupy the second Red Bull in 2025.
thegamer23
31st March 2024, 18:39
He could have become a superstar in Indycar or Nascar, but instead chose to continue in F1 with a midfield team.
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
31st March 2024, 20:28
I voted until the summer break. The problem for Red Bull is that they don’t have any compelling replacement lined up. Lawson did an Ok job last year, but he did not do anything special in my opinion. Looking at his racing record, he’s never won any international championship either. Not the driver to partner (or even replace) Verstappen as I see it.
As for Daniel, I think he had some really strong performances between 2014 and 2018. Sure, he may have been a little flattered by Vettel’s struggles, but there was no shame in his performances versus Verstappen. Sure, Max came out on top, but it’s hard to see any driver on the grid beating him anyway.
Daniel’s loss of form is completely baffling to me, and not something I recall seeing before in my 30-odd years of following the sport (although Vettel’s loss of form in his second season alongside Leclerc was similar, if not as bad). I thought perhaps Daniel just does not gel well with this generation of car – but then his struggles already began in the last year of the previous regulations in 2021.
MacLeod (@macleod)
2nd April 2024, 7:59
+1 you bring up very good points.
Honda
31st March 2024, 20:42
I want him to stay the whole year. First of all he is not bad, Yuki is just preforming better. I expect Yuki to beat and have advantage over Ricciardo overall but Ricciardo will also have some good races. Moreover, Ricciardo’s communication skills and experience will help the team overall. I think these were also the reason they wanted him in the team. Yuki had lot of trouble when he came to F1, he has improved overs the years for sure but I am not sure that is his strongest skills set.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
31st March 2024, 21:12
RIC seems like a nice guy, and I never had a thought that they should get rid of him. But Bearman showed up, hopped in a Ferrari, and did extremely well. There are a bunch of drivers that deserve a chance, and this is a B team so give some other drivers a chance. I say replace him now.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:30
Bearman is also trailing his rookie teammate in F2
GmP (@gmp)
31st March 2024, 21:15
He was brought in the put pressure on Checo. He has not shown in any race since he came back that he is a better driver then Checo. He is not a talent than still needs time to adapt or grow, he is a 10+ years veteran. Give him a few more races, but not too many. If by Miami he still has not outperformed Yuki, or at least shown that he is a better driver then Checo, move him to a PR position, and bring in a new driver who than has enough races to learn and grow to make a decision for next year.
Best would be if he himself concludes there is no place for him, and decides to move to another role. I would think there is so much he could do outside the car for RedBull or even F1 in general. But that is likely too much to ask for anyone who has a competitive spirit. So RB/RedBull will have to be there ruthless self and decide.
Erkr
1st April 2024, 3:32
A few more races? He’s had 10 races to prove himself. One or 2 good races won’t make a big difference
David BR (@david-br)
1st April 2024, 0:08
Arguably Hamilton has had a worse season start.
Laz
1st April 2024, 9:48
How would you argue that?
Hamilton against Russell
Ricciardo against Tsunoda.
Ricciardo has been further behind Tsunoda than Hamilton has been from Russell.
Edvaldo
1st April 2024, 20:15
Hamilton is probably going to have the worst season of his career this year.
The car is weak, the team is lost, he’s not their main focus anymore and already has a deal with a different team.
Ricciardo on the other hand, is driving to secure a seat, that they’re willing to give him if he performs well, so a vastly different situation that has very little to do with Hamilton’s.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
1st April 2024, 3:53
RIC has had enough opportunities to show his talent. A real talent can adapt and drive any car fast. Now it’s time to give Lawson a chance.
Sack him now.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
1st April 2024, 12:49
See it through the end of the season. Let him try to get into a rhythm. I don’t like what happened to DeVries. If you take on a driver be committed to the whole season.
David (@nvherman)
2nd April 2024, 0:43
@freelittlebirds no, Ricciardo should be sacked now. Frankly, they should’ve sacked him after he broke his hand last season.
The only reason they took him on was some weird attempt to try and make McLaren look foolish for paying him off a season early, in favour of Piastri.
But Piastri is doing a great job of being at a similar level to Norris, which is more than Ricciardo ever managed. You can ignore Monza 2021, Norris was given team orders to stay behind.
Ricciardo was overrated at his peak, and he’s achieved nothing of note since he left Red Bull, which was years ago now.
Mooa42
2nd April 2024, 6:14
Norris thought he was faster, and the team rightly told him not to try and overtake, because the team wanted to ensure the 1, 2. Ricciardo was managing the race, interestingly both drivers went for it on the last lap and it was Ricciardo that came out with the fastest lap.
Norris saying he was faster was his way of dealing with getting beaten, I’ll be interested to see how he reacts if Oscar is the first to take win in a F1 Grand Prix. Tough situation for any driver but given how Lando responds to his own qualifying I don’t think he’ll handle it well.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
1st April 2024, 14:52
Of all the drivers that have lost their touch in the past this is the one that I just can’t fathom.
Red Bull – genuine world class talent, stood up to (albeit a young Max) incredibly well, it was only the latter half of this last season with RB that was a bit ropey but he had horrific reliability.
Renault – Appeared to have finished Hulkenbergs career and then practically whitewashed Ocon in a fashion we’ve never seen him dominated.
Then absolute trash overnight at McLaren.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st April 2024, 18:54
RB had a deal with Renault probably, maybe Yuki has a deal with VCARB-Honda ? He just needs to drop the guy act.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st April 2024, 18:40
It’s time for Mr. not so Hydden to make his return to the cockpit. Even if it is for 10th place or in front of Yuki. hash tag devil man.
Gary Simmons (@gsimmonsonca)
1st April 2024, 19:11
Replace him now.
He is/was one of my favourite drivers, but he needed to come into this team and dominate… turning average performances is not enough. I don’t believe he is going to improve over the rest of the season at this point, so give the seat to Liam.
Edvaldo
1st April 2024, 20:11
The same time they gave to Devries last season.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
2nd April 2024, 19:51
Wait and see. If Red Bull needs to replace 2 drivers at/before season’s end (which at this rate is possible), then they need to hold onto everyone they can keep. It’s currently at risk of having 3 drivers available for 4 seats, rather than the 5 it has now.
If only 1 vacancy opens, then it’s pretty obvious that Yuki will be taking it. Who takes the 2nd? Ricciardo.
Grapmg
2nd April 2024, 21:06
Replace him now together with Bottas, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Perez. All drivers that got enough time but didn’t deliver in F1. Time to bring in some new talent if you ask me