“Doesn’t really make sense,” Daniel Ricciardo’s former teammate confused about the Australian’s disappointing start in 2024

Nico Hulkenberg was Daniel Ricciardo's teammate at Renault in 2019 when the 34-year-old had just left Red Bull Racing.

“Doesn’t really make sense,” Daniel Ricciardo’s former teammate confused about the Australian’s disappointing start in 2024

Nico Hulkenberg [L] Daniel Ricciardo [R] (images via IMAGO)

Daniel Ricciardo returned to Formula 1 mid-way through 2023 with AlphaTauri (now VisaCashAppRB). The Australian driver was forced to the sidelines after two woeful seasons at McLaren. However, the 34-year-old’s struggles have resurfaced during a difficult start to the 2024 season. Ricciardo’s former teammate and Nico Hulkenberg expressed his opinions on the 8-time race winner’s form.

Hulkenberg and Ricciardo were teammates at Renault in 2019. The Australian driver outperformed his German counterpart by seventeen points. However, so far in 2024, Daniel Ricciardo has been outpaced by teammate Yuki Tsunoda at VCARB.

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Nico Hulkenberg claimed that Ricciardo’s poor performance did not make sense. The German driver recalled how competitive and quick Daniel Ricciardo was during their time as teammates at Enstone.

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No, it doesn't really make sense and I don't understand it. Because in 2019, he was very competitive and on the pace.
Nico Hulkenberg said, as reported by RacingNews365

Nico Hulkenberg pointed out that Ricciardo even struggled with the 2021 McLaren during the previous regulations. This made it clear that the ground-effect rules were not the main cause of the Australian’s struggles.

Since then [he’s struggled], the McLaren times, which obviously was still the same generation cars [compared to] the new generation cars.
Nico Hulkenberg noted

Nico Hulkenberg claims Daniel Ricciardo’s situation ‘tricky to judge’

Ricciardo was called up by AlphaTauri after a stellar test in the RB19 at Silverstone. However, the 34-year-old seems to have lost his impressive pace from last season. There have been doubts over the Australian driver’s future with Red Bull junior Liam Lawson waiting for a seat.

Daniel Ricciardo (via IMAGO).
Daniel Ricciardo (Via Imago)

Nico Hulkenberg claimed that it was tricky to understand Ricciardo’s situation without having all the information and data. Hulkenberg asserted that he still believed that the Australian as a good driver. However, the Haas driver mentioned that perhaps Daniel Ricciardo was not as strong as he used to be.

It's tricky, especially from the outside, if you don't have all the info and all the data, it's tricky to judge. But yeah, I don't know why. I think he’s still good, but back then he was stronger maybe.
Nico Hulkenberg concluded

Daniel Ricciardo has failed to live up to expectations so far this season. The Australian driver made it clear that he was trying to improve with regular discussions with the Faenza-based team. However, the 8-time race winner continues to struggle against Tsunoda. Fans would be hoping to see Ricciardo improve his performance in the coming races.

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