F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo Gives Insight Into VCARB Issues During "Painful" Saudi Arabian GP
In a revealing post-race analysis, Daniel Ricciardo has opened up about the struggles he and the RB (Visa Cash App RB /VCARB) team encountered with their 2024 Formula 1 car during the challenging Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Key Takeaways:
- Ricciardo endured a tough weekend, with significant issues in qualifying and a problematic pit stop hampering his race.
- Flaws in the RB team's 2024 car, the VCARB 01, were identified, contributing to the difficulties faced over the weekend.
- Despite a series of setbacks, Ricciardo's optimism about the team's potential for improvement remains strong.
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The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend was fraught with difficulties for Daniel Ricciardo, culminating in what he described as a "painful" series of events. The Australian driver found himself out-qualified by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda by a significant margin, leaving him starting the race in 14th position. The race day brought further challenges, including a notably slow pit stop that relegated Ricciardo into a less advantageous position behind Kevin Magnussen, who was intentionally pacing his Haas car to benefit his team.
The culmination of Ricciardo's challenging weekend came with a spin at Turn 1 during the closing laps of the race, leaving him to finish ahead of only the two Sauber cars. Reflecting on the weekend's performance, Ricciardo said, as quoted by Motorsportweek.com:
“Honestly, we found a few things over the course of the weekend. But we’re heading into the race always upbeat and optimistic that maybe something happens.
“But I think it was always going to be an uphill battle. We simply don’t have everything functioning at 100%.
“So we see a few flaws, honestly, with the car. So we got to get that fixed for the next one."
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The eight-time Grand Prix winner continued:
“I think the race itself, Safety Car, everyone pitted and we had a really slow stop. I don’t know if they showed it… But a slow one. And then we’re in that train.
“So at the end, then just to make sure I made my mistake as well, I had a spin at Turn 1, so… I didn’t want the team to feel left out. Yeah, just definitely a tricky one.
“But the reason I’m staying optimistic because I know that we had some things wrong. And with a good car and everything sorted, I know we can do a lot better.
“So painful three days, but I don’t want it to take any confidence out of us. So, hasn’t been the start that we wanted, but it’s race two and Melbourne’s next. So yeah, big push for everyone to get it right and we’ll have a good weekend.”
Ricciardo also discussed the car's performance limitations, particularly when compared to the improvements made by rival teams over the weekend. He added:
“Honestly, some things with the car. Like just when it comes to producing efficiency and everything, just a few things didn’t quite add up. Look, I felt it yesterday, like Bahrain I knew that it was more me – like qualifying, I knew I left some time on the table. I left a couple of tenths.
“But yesterday… and when it kind of plateaus and the others keep improving, it’s also a bit of a sign. So I could feel that that was the limit of the car.
“So yeah, we did find some things afterwards. But then you got parc ferme. And to be honest, even if we didn’t have parc ferme, it’s probably nothing we can fix in 24 hours.
“So I’m sure a few things would go back to the factory and come back with a fresh car in Melbourne.”
The challenges of following other cars closely were further magnified by the car's current weaknesses, as Ricciardo pointed out.
“We just lack load this weekend, just in general. So then when you get behind another car, it’s even, you know, exaggerated more. And it kind of exploits even more of a weakness.
“So it was tricky. Yeah. Just a tough one. On one of those ones you just yeah, you hope that it’s over.
“Look, I’m glad I’m back on the grid and all that, so I don’t want to be like, ‘Ah, I just wanted to see the chequered flag’. I’m not in the mindset I was a couple years ago.
“But yeah, just knowing that we don’t quite have underneath us what we should – that’s where you feel a little bit helpless.”