“He is treading water,” Ex-F1 champion urges Daniel Ricciardo to “put on a good show” to save F1 career

Daniel Ricciardo will need to bounce back from a poor start to the 2024 season if the 34-year-old wants to keep his Red Bull hopes alive.

“He is treading water,” Ex-F1 champion urges Daniel Ricciardo to “put on a good show” to save F1 career

Daniel Ricciardo (Via IMAGO)

Daniel Ricciardo made a surprise comeback to the F1 grid with AlphaTauri mid-way through 2023. The 34-year-old aims to return to Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen in 2025. However, the Australian driver had a poor start to the 2024 season with two disappointing results. Now, former F1 world champion Alan Jones has raised concerns over Ricciardo’s future prospects.

Jones recognized that the Honey Badger was in a difficult situation. Daniel Ricciardo was outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the opening two races. The 77-year-old urged his fellow countryman to step up his results and put on a good show in the coming races. Alan Jones highlighted that the 8-time race winner could not stay stuck in the F1 midfield.

He [Daniel Ricciardo] is treading water. He really needs to have some very good results and put up a good show, he can’t be dwelling down where he is.
Alan Jones told Herald Sun
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Moreover, the former F1 champion admitted that for him, Ricciardo’s best days in Formula 1 were over. The 77-year-old pointed out that the VCARB driver had been in a few competitive cars over the course of his career. Jones reckoned that it was necessary for Daniel Ricciardo to outperform Yuki Tsunoda to secure his future in the sport.

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I hate to say it, but I think we have seen the best days [from Ricciardo]. He has had his bum in a few decent cars, irrespective of what people say... at the end of the day he has got to start beating his team-mate for a start.

Alan Jones claims Daniel Ricciardo can’t keep blaming the car for his struggles

Ricciardo spent two woeful seasons with McLaren in 2021 and 2022. The 34-year-old blamed the car characteristics of the Woking-based team for his underwhelming results. Subsequently, the 8-time race winner agreed to part ways with the team before his contract had expired.

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo (Via: Imago)

Alan Jones claimed that Daniel Ricciardo’s disappointing results could not be covered by blaming the car time and time again. The 77-year-old highlighted how this had been the tendency in the past for the 34-year-old, especially during his stay at McLaren. Ricciardo had cited flaws in the VCARB01 for his mediocre performance at the Saudi Arabian GP this season.

At the end of the day, we can’t be blaming the car all the time, which has been a bit of a tendency in the past.

Certainly, Daniel Ricciardo remains determined to get back to a top team in F1. However, the 34-year-old is currently on the backfoot after two woeful rounds. Subsequently, the Honey Badger would be looking to turn things around in the coming races to prove his worth once again. It remains to be seen if Ricciardo could pull off a decent result at his home race this weekend.

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