The Chinese Grand Prix could be a defining moment in the career of 8-time winner Daniel Ricciardo.
Following his return to the sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year with AlphaTauri/RB F1, the Australian has shown flashes of his old self. Qualifying a superb P4 in Mexico last October and finishing the race in an excellent 7th was the standout weekend.
However, 2024 has not been particularly good to date. Although his race pace has generally been strong, bad qualifying performances has left him out of position on the grid — the 34-year-old is 0-4 down in the head-to-head against Yuki Tsunoda.
In the Drivers’ Championship, Ricciardo is yet to score a point. His Japanese teammate bagged 7 vital points for the team across Australia and Japan.
The Suzuka meeting had looked more promising. He got within 0.055s of Tsunoda in qualifying as he narrowly missed out on Q3 as he ended up P11.
Unfortunately for the Perth born driver, a tangle with Alex Albon — after getting mugged at the start due to a bad launch that cost him 4 spots — saw him in the barrier at turn 3 on the opening lap of the Grand Prix.
Speaking after his retirement in Japan, Ricciardo said he still remains convinced a new chassis could be better despite his qualifying gains around Suzuka.
RB F1 will be giving him a fresh one for Shanghai as he tests whether his feeling is right.
“I am still curious, for sure. It’s something that […] yeah, peace of mind. I’ll be like ‘alright’.”
Ricciardo sensationally won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza after a difficult season in the main to that point at McLaren. It was the team’s first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix as they secured a memorable 1-2.
The Woking-based team had hoped to retire that chassis but the Aussie had other ideas. In the following race at Sochi, Ricciardo was in P4, 40s adrift of teammate and race leader Lando Norris before the rain chaos started in the closing laps.
“I know through past experience. I’ll be honest, it was when I won Monza.
“They [McLaren] wanted to retire that chassis, so I had a different one for Russia — and I remember I was nowhere.
“After that I said, ‘guys, I don’t want this chassis, give me the other one back’.”
Ricciardo got it back and cited the United States Grand Prix as an example as to why it was the correct call. He outqualified Norris by 0.079s and beat the Brit my 3 spots in the race with a strong drive to 5th.
“Maybe the next race was Austin [it was Turkey followed by COTA] and we were back on it again.
“There has been times where I’ve certainly been sceptical about come chassis not performing well for whatever reason.
“I just want to make sure.”
Speaking in Japan about the new chassis Ricciardo will have in China, RB F1’s Alan Permane was keen to point out that they are not bringing it because of the Aussie’s concerns about the one he used at the first 4 rounds.
The British engineer is not convinced it will make a difference as all chassis should be equal.
“I don’t see it as being a performance differentiator, and it’s certainly not something we want to be hopping drivers in and out of.
“It’s a happy accident that we have one coming, and it doesn’t make sense to give it to Yuki [Tsunoda] — it makes sense to give it to Daniel, but we’re not bringing a new chassis because of his issues. Let me be clear about that, it’s just that it all fits together.”
