“That’s a big question mark,” Damon Hill extremely skeptical over Daniel Ricciardo’s pace in F1
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Damon and Daniel
Daniel Ricciardo is having a season to forget in 2022 and former F1 Champion, Damon Hill believes that F1 teams are questioning whether he still has the speed to make it in the sport before bringing him on board.
Daniel Ricciardo’s contract with McLaren is coming to an end at the current campaign where he is going to see himself get replaced by Alpine’s Oscar Piastri.
Moreover, there are not many vacant seats left on the grid for the 2023 season, and the 33-years-old is running out of options thick and fast, Alpine is the most desirable seat that’s still there for the taking for next season, but as per the rumor mill, the Enstone-based team has got its sights well set on securing AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly for next year.
With Gasly likely moving to Alpine, there is an opening on the Faenza-based team, however, to Ricciardo’s disappointment they have also eyed up the Mercedes reserve driver Nyck De Vries as a potential candidate to replace the Frenchman.
Haas and Williams are also in the driver market to fill the seats on their respective teams but it is believed that Ricciardo is not high on their list of potential drivers either. As things stand, there are very decent chances that Daniel Ricciardo might not be seen in F1 next year.
Damon Hill feels Daniel Ricciardo somehow lost his rhythm competing against Lando Norris
Daniel Ricciardo is in his second year with the Woking-based McLaren team and has struggled massively in comparison to his young and faster teammate Lando Norris.
In the two years, the Australian has proved second best to Norris on most occasions, and Damon Hill feels that F1 teams before taking up his services for next year are questioning whether he still has the pace to do big things in the sport.
While talking about Ricciardo’s woes at McLaren, Hill said, “Daniel has been such a fantastic character for our sport, effervescent and always smiling and all that, but something went wrong, not just in his pace at McLaren, but also in his strategy to end up in a competitive car.”
He further adds, “All the team principals look at him and everyone, all the teams, look at him and say, Where did the rhythm go? Is it coming back? And that’s the big question mark. We don’t know.”
Damon Hill has blatantly put question marks over Daniel Ricciardo’s pace as an F1 driver and is not sure whether he would be able to find his magic touch back even if he is able to secure a racing seat for next year.
There are 6 races left in the current season and with various teams playing the long game, the Ricciardo saga is going to continue for at least a few months to come.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)