The RB team will implement new aerodynamic packages in its 2024 car, to help Daniel Ricciardo overcome his difficulties in the current Formula 1 season.
Ricciardo has faced a challenging start to the championship, being surpassed by his teammate, and much less experienced Yuki Tsunoda, in four of the first five stages.
Tsunoda’s performance diminished Ricciardo’s chances of returning to Red Bull in 2025. Main team boss Christian Horner even declared that the Australian needs to ‘impress’ to have any chance.
However, a new chassis used in China, coinciding with Ricciardo leading the RB duo, rekindled hopes. Unfortunately, the Australian’s race was interrupted after a collision caused by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The improvement in Ricciardo’s performance in Shanghai reinforced the team’s belief that the driver is on the right path to regaining his best performance.
“Yes, absolutely,” said RB boss Laurent Mekies when asked by Autosport whether the team had confidence in Ricciardo’s potential. “It is at the core of our work to try to identify which car configuration is necessary for both car and drivers to perform at their best. That’s what we’re doing with both drivers. We’ve seen great development from Yuki and we’re seeing Daniel getting back on track.”
Mekies revealed that Faenza’s team has new features in development to help Ricciardo adapt to the RB14.
“Already in Saudi Arabia, we started to notice signs that helped us understand how to better support him,” Mekies said. “So yes, the direction is positive. We’re not at the end of the road yet and we have some things for the medium term that will help you feel better in the car, and ensure it suits your driving style better. It will certainly be a good confidence boost to see that there is tangible progress, as we saw over the weekend in China.”
Despite rumors of the Australian’s possible dismissal midway through the season, Mekies praised Ricciardo’s reaction to difficulties and his efforts to understand unexpected problems. “Contrary to what may be perceived from the outside, throughout this difficult start to the season, he has been very focused, calm and rational.”
“We looked at the limitations of the car and what it needed to go faster. Some solutions can be implemented quickly, but you need to understand them first. So once you understand, some things you can solve quickly, and others will take longer. We try to check as many boxes as possible, but we certainly won’t stop there,” added Mekies.
Download our official app to Android It is iPhone and receive notifications of the latest news.
