Mekies: Red Bull needs to provide Ricciardo with a more comfortable Formula 1 car.

Ricciardo had a disappointing qualifying session, starting in 18th position due to exceeding track limits. Despite feeling satisfied with his last invalidated attempt, Ricciardo was baffled by the gap between him and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who reached Q3 for the second consecutive GP. In the race, Ricciardo finished in 12th place, benefiting from issues faced by Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda, who secured RB’s first points of the season by finishing seventh. Despite the struggles with the VCARB 01, Mekies emphasizes RB’s unwavering support for Ricciardo and the need to make him feel comfortable driving his 2024 car. Mekies stated: “We need to provide him with a car he feels more comfortable with, starting from FP1 here. We only reached that point in qualifying with Daniel, and we need to build from there. He certainly showed improvement in the race. He was as fast as the drivers who scored points today. So, with a better starting position, we would be fighting for points. It’s another positive aspect to take from the fact that Daniel had a very strong race even starting from the back of the grid.”

The CEO of the RB Formula 1 team, Peter Bayer, believes that Ricciardo was very critical of himself after qualifying and highlights his strong performance during the race in Melbourne, considering his starting position. Bayer stated: “I think he misinterpreted the data a bit. We reviewed it with him and found some positives. I am also optimistic about Daniel, because he regained his pace in qualifying. If he had achieved that lap on Friday, he could have built on it. I am confident he would have been in the top 10 in qualifying. So, we need to focus on that. Sundays are challenging due to traffic and race management, especially on a track where overtaking is difficult. Honestly, he did a good job, and we can use what we observed here as a basis for improvements.”