Lest it is forgotten, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo began his 2024 F1 season with a lowly P13 at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir International circuit. In the same race, his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda emerged behind him. But that was then.
It would take Daniel Ricciardo two more races to reach what has, thus far, been his best-result of the season: a fighting twelfth at the Australian Grand Prix, which happens to be his home race.
Nevertheless, it was a race result, which was mirrored by his efforts at Monaco, the sport’s most recent Formula 1 Grand Prix. He would score yet another P12 on the famous streets of Monte Carlo, although Yuki Tsunoda, on the other hand, scored an eighth.
Thus far, despite contesting in no fewer than eight successive Formula 1 Grands Prix, Daniel Ricciardo has failed to pick up any points, whatsoever. Been completely devoid of points is something that comes naturally to the sport’s weakest names, supposedly, its backmarkers; it’s not something that happens that often to someone like a Daniel Ricciardo, who is a proper Grand Prix winner, someone who even aced the event at Monaco in the past (with Red Bull).
But 2024, much like his evident troubles of the past season, hasn’t really fetched any successes up to this point. This leaves the intrepid fans and the sport’s devoted pundits with what is clearly a contentious subject or question: is Daniel Ricciardo, clearly struggling with form, past his prime and beyond his best in F1? Is the future going to love one a driver who has, without doubt, been one of the most loved personalities of the sport?
Just what is going to happen to Daniel Ricciardo?
But while there is no clarity on that front, it is quite clear that the famed Perth-born driver has the regard of his RB team boss Laurent Mekies.
The RB team principal in the aftermath of the Monaco Grand Prix iterated the fact that despite not contributing any points towards the team stable, Ricciardo has been a sort of an asset to the unit.
He would, therefore, point to the fact that-
“Daniel specifically, in the context of the projects, where the team needs to go and help identify the gaps, it hugely helps to have somebody like Daniel that won eight races, has been at a few teams and knows where the board can be and where the board needs to go.”
Furthermore, Mekies also pointed to the fact that Daniel Ricciardo’s inputs toward improving the current car as seen in 2024 can not be undermined or overlooked.
He used the term ‘massive’ when speaking of the inputs shared by the Australian toward making improvements in the RB car. However, the French engineer also emphasised the fact that talking in terms of pure performance, Daniel’s been suffering this season. But then, he would state, is just the way the sport is.