The Chinese Grand Prix was quite a disappointing race for VCARB. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda had to retire from the race, with the former having a very controversial reason for doing so. While fighting with Lance Stroll for points, the Australian driver took a big hit, literally.
The race had quite a few safety cars, and because the drivers were not used to the circuit yet, incidents were expected. But not what happened to Daniel Ricciardo. After the green flag was shown after a safety car lap, Lance Stroll rear-ended Daniel Ricciardo’s Racing Bull. After the race, Daniel Ricciardo came forward to share his opinion on the accident.
Daniel Ricciardo’s chance at points was stolen by Lance Stroll
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Its no secret that Daniel Ricciardo is going through a difficult time in his career, with him being under threat of being replaced by VCARB. This is not ideal for him, and given that his goal is to drive next to Max Verstappen, this is a huge loss. What makes things more difficult for him is that he has yet to score a single point while his teammate has been outperforming him.
Ricciardo: I saw his onboard, and he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the apex. I don't know what he was looking at unless, he's eyes do a funny thing. It was a blow for our weekend.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) April 21, 2024
The Chinese Grand Prix looked like a perfect opportunity for the Australian driver to try to win some points, and until he was hit, he was within the points for quite some time. Ricciardo was finally doing better than Tsunoda in the race, but unfortunately, he was hit by Stroll. Ricciardo will be mad, and after the race, he shares a piece of his mind with the press.
After checking the replays and race analysis, Ricciardo pointed out Stroll’s shortcoming, saying, “I saw his onboard, and he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the apex. I don’t know what he was looking at unless his eyes do a funny thing. It was a blow for our weekend.” That being said, it’s another race for Daniel Ricciardo without points, and this is only further threatening his position in the team. Because Danny Ric had some major changes implemented in his car, it’s understandable how the Australian driver was making it into points.
💥Ricciardo carga contra Stroll: "No fue una pequeña falta de juicio, ¡estaba a kilómetros de distancia!"
👀El canadiense ha colisionado por detrás con el piloto de RB
🗣️“Que se joda, y sigo siendo amable", ha estallado el australiano#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/enxvwPQAVh
— SoyMotor.com (@SoyMotor) April 21, 2024
In the end, Daniel Ricciardo maintained his good guy name by saying, “F**k it, and I’m still being nice,” showing his fans that he is still the driver who everyone adores.
Daniel Ricciardo’s verdict on the reworked car
Ricciardo performed very well during the Chinese Grand Prix, and if it wasn’t for Lance Stroll, he would have most likely won some points. The eight-time Grand Prix winner got a chassis change after the Japanese GP, and despite there being no major upgrade, Ricciardo seemed comfortable in the car. After the race, he was interviewed and asked about the difference the chassis made.
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To this question, Ricciardo replied, “So I don’t want to jump on that yet and be like it’s definitely that. I think we obviously need to prove that over the course of a few races. Yeah, but that was obviously something we did change this weekend, and so far it’s been my best weekend of the year. So whether it’s that or whether it’s just that, I’ve always kind of done well around here. We’ll see; we’ll see in Miami and Imola, and maybe the next few if it continues.”
So far, it’s not clear if the new chassis worked or not. The driver is still adjusting his setup so he can get comfortable with it, and the only way to know if it’s working is once he successfully scores points in a race. However, it’s not about scoring points in a race; it’s more about becoming a world champion for Ricciardo, but looking at his current trajectory, it looks close to impossible for that to happen soon.
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Do you think Daniel Ricciardo will recover from his downfall and win races like he used to back in the day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.