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Daniel Ricciardo believes most of the issues on his car have been resolved prior to the 2024 Australian GP. Speaking in the press conference in Melbourne, the Australian claimed that RB found some inconsistencies across both cars which led to his subpar performance in Saudi Arabia.
After the qualifying and race in Jeddah, Daniel Ricciardo had mentioned to the media including Sportskeeda that RB found issues on the car that could not be fixed overnight. He had indicated then that it would be a different story in Melbourne with an improved version of the VCARB01. Explaining the issues on his car in Albert Park, the 34-year-old driver claimed that both cars were dissimilar in terms of performance. Therefore, the performance gap in both qualifying and the race can be explained. He suggested that most of these issues have been addressed and he had carried out a lot of simulator work after the race in Saudi.
After being asked to shed more light on the issues found by RB on his car, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“So, yeah, we found some inconsistencies across cars. And that, I think, was obviously… As I touched on earlier, when it's so tight, you know, especially in our position, you need everything to obviously try and be there. So that was that. And then in the race, you know, early in the Safety Car period, we had a slow stop. So then it put us at the back and yeah, pretty much in a DRS train after that. So then you're out of position and that kind of made it a very long and tough weekend."
"So ahead of this weekend, I think everything's been addressed. I've been speaking with the team a lot. I was back in the sim as well after Saudi and before heading home. So yeah, I feel like we've done everything we can to come here with our best shot and I'm very, very happy that we're probably 24 hours away from getting in the car.”
Daniel Ricciardo laments at not being able to race in the Australian GP in 2023
Daniel Ricciardo claims missing driving in the Australian GP in 2023 made him want to return to the sport. The Australian was on the Red Bull pit wall carrying out his duties as a third driver. He felt that watching his peers drive at the Albert circuit made him more determined to return to racing.
Asked if missing the home race made not being on the grid hurt more, Daniel Ricciardo replied:
“Yeah, it was. I mean, I remember being on pit wall here. It was my first race attending and I was watching the cars and there was that, yeah, certainly a bit of envy as I saw them all pull out of the garage. I kind of knew already that I wanted to do it again. But yeah, this was where, I felt it most. And then every race I went to after that, I was, ‘OK, I'm ready’.”
After a six-month hiatus from the sport, Daniel Ricciardo returned more determined to prove a point and get back to his competitive best. Speaking to The Age newspaper recently, the honey badger stated that his current priorities were restricted to fitness training and racing. He believes he can still return to his competitive form that he had when he enjoyed multiple successes with Red Bull Racing. Hungry for his first points of 2024, the RB driver is expected to be back to his form in an improved car.
