F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo Details 'Open Chat' With RB Amid Performance Issues

Daniel Ricciardo, grappling with a series of underwhelming performances this Formula 1 season, recently engaged in a candid conversation with his team at Visa Cash App RB (VCARB or RB) aimed at dissecting his ongoing challenges. Following a particularly lackluster showing at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished a distant 12th while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda achieved consistent top-10 placements, Ricciardo initiated an incisive review of his racing tactics and preparation.

The Australian driver has been open about his struggles, acknowledging that even a mid-season chassis change, which led to a promising fourth-place finish in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, hasn’t sufficed to consistently boost his season’s performance. Post-Monaco, Ricciardo’s path to self-improvement included introspective assessments focusing on both on-track and off-track factors.

The pivotal meeting sought to foster open communication with his engineering crew, encouraging an "open book" dialogue that underscored both constructive criticism and mutual understanding regarding energy management throughout race weekends. The Australian driver explained to the media, as quoted by Racing News 365:

"I always look at the on-track stuff - can I brake later here, or do this and that.

"After Monaco, I also looked at some other things affecting my performances - am I coming into a race weekend not feeling energised or not feeling this or that?

"I had some good self-therapy after Monaco, a look at the things I'm doing wrong away from the track. Am I giving too much away to people, and by the time I get to race day I'm a little bit flat, because I know it's in me?

"As I said, we're always going to try to fine tune the car, but deep down, I know what I can do. It's just making sure I'm in the spot to be able to do it more often. I try to take as much accountability as possible and think a little bit broader."

This comprehensive reflection, which Ricciardo described as "self-therapy," was pivotal in addressing various personal challenges that spilled over into his professional performance. He commented on the importance of managing his energy, stating:

"It was open book, constructive criticism, give it to me. What do you think I can clean up? Where do you feel I'm maybe missing something?

"A lot of it was just managing my energy management over the course of the weekend. It's not even what I'm doing in the car. It's just what gets me into the car feeling like I'm ready to go.

"It was just trying to clean up some of those things, and if there was anything on my mind, trying to get it off my chest."

The takeaways from these discussions heralded a noticeable turnaround at the subsequent Canada Grand Prix. Ricciardo demonstrated a marked improvement, securing a fifth-place start and an eighth-place finish, marking his first points of the season—even after a time penalty for a false start.

Encouraged by the outcome, Ricciardo noted the value of direct feedback, especially at this phase of his career. He concluded:

"We were pretty open with each other. But I wanted to make sure that there was nothing that they saw...they needed to unload.

"I just basically wanted to know, 'What do you guys think is going wrong? Tell me if there's something you see from me. I want to try and fix it. But I'll also tell you guys what I feel and maybe why I do feel a little bit flat. Maybe the schedule is a bit too much at the moment or whatever'.

"So we just had a very open chat and it was great because I also wanted to give them the comfort to tell me straight. I'm nearly 35, I don't need too many more pats on the back. I'd rather people just be very direct with me. I felt like it was productive and that continued through the week after."