Daniel Ricciardo reveals RB message after fearing team would ‘panic’ over slow F1 2024 start
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed how his bad experience at McLaren helped him recover from a slow start to the F1 2024 season, admitting he feared the RB team “would starting panicking” after a challenging first few races.
Having reclaimed his place on the grid last year, Ricciardo had been expected to make a strong start to F1 2024 with the benefit of a full pre-season behind him and the prize of a return to Red Bull Racing potentially up for grabs.
Daniel Ricciardo reassured RB after poor start to F1 2024
However, the 34-year-old struggled alongside team-mate Yuki Tsunoda across the first portion of races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Japan, where he retired after a first-lap collision with Alex Albon’s Williams.
Reports after Suzuka claimed Ricciardo was running out of time to save his seat – although PlanetF1.com understands that a mid-season swap with Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s talented reserve driver, was never seriously on the cards at that stage.
Ricciardo’s fortunes have improved since a change of chassis ahead of last month’s Chinese Grand Prix, with the Australian finishing fourth in the Miami sprint race.
