Daniel Ricciardo was made aware of what Helmut Marko declared on Monday (“The Ricciardo operation has failed, a young driver is needed”) only this morning when he arrived in the Spielberg paddock. “I’ve become quite good at isolating myself and not reading anything – commented Daniel – they brought me up to speed a little while ago”.
Having said that, Ricciardo delved into the topic, few like him know Marko as well as his modus operandi. “The only thing that matters to him is the performance – he confirmed – I know the rules, if I do well I know I will have the chance to stay where I am. The track will decide, certainly not my smile.”
For Ricciardo the problem is the passing of time, a time in which races are held which in his case seem to mark a countdown towards the summer break, a sort of ‘deadline’ within which he is called upon to achieve a result. “I’m not aware of a precise deadline – he reiterated – but I also know that the summer break is a moment in which the first half of the season is evaluated. I will do the best I can to help my cause, I know that it is difficult to get excited about a fifteenth place, but in reality I was really happy with the race in Barcelona, even if the result is what it is.”
Ricciardo trembles because he sees a situation similar to the one he experienced exactly one year ago. At the time Daniel was called to take part in a test with a 2021 car due to the lack of performance of Nyck De Vries, a test which then triggered the replacement between the two. Now Liam Lawson is on track for tests, while Ricciardo finds himself in the situation De Vries found himself in twelve months ago.
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, RB F1 Team, Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“If Liam does well I can only be happy for him – commented Daniel – it’s not part of my way of thinking to wish someone to do badly. I still have one certainty: I can play it, I know that doing well would put me in a good position, and that’s the only thing I can do. I’m sure that fifth place in qualifying in Montreal made Helmut smile and if I manage to do it again I’m sure he will help me.”
Even though Ricciardo has a lot of experience on his side, he knows well that this is the last call to stay in Formula 1. “I have no other options – he admitted – I don’t want to be arrogant and persist in looking for alternatives, I was enthusiastic about returning to the Red Bull family and still are. Helmut sometimes puts pressure to get the best out of his riders, and I hope it’s the same on this occasion.”
“I repeat, I am aware that I have done some good races but also many less good ones and this is not enough to guarantee a future. I am pleased to continue to have good support from Christian and Laurent, they are doing what they can, but then at a At a certain point, I’m the one driving the car, so I have to push a little harder with my right foot.”
Racing Bulls also hopes that the car will be more accommodating to the drivers than it was in Barcelona, a weekend in which the team brought a substantial package of updates to the track. “We don’t think it was a flop,” Daniel explained. “Yuki and I will start this weekend with two different configurations of the car to help the team understand the situation better.”
“We haven’t reached any definitive conclusions yet, and even if the ‘sprint’ weekend format doesn’t help us at the moment, the priority will be to understand how to make the car work best.”
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