Daniel Ricciardo remains optimistic about his recent surge in performance, despite facing setbacks during his debut weekend with the new chassis.
Despite encountering challenges at the Chinese Grand Prix, Ricciardo sees potential in his upgraded equipment to revitalize his season in the midst of a tough start to the 2024 F1 campaign.
Acknowledging his vocal stance leading up to the Shanghai International Circuit event, Ricciardo encountered an unfortunate incident involving Lance Stroll, hindering his opportunity to secure his inaugural points for the year.
Expressing frustration over Stroll’s reaction and reluctance to shoulder responsibility for the mishap, Ricciardo now looks forward to leveraging his new chassis to execute a complete turnaround in the upcoming races.
Following the switch from his previous chassis, the seasoned racer, boasting eight grand Prix victories, affirmed that the decision to transition was part of the strategic plan for the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
“Obviously, I’ve been quite vocal about it, because I’ve been struggling a bit this year. But also, to be clear, that it was always the plan to introduce that chassis here [in China],” he clarified to the media.
“I don’t know if anyone else is [introducing new chassis] yet, but by race five, I was obviously just putting my hand up, [like:] ‘whenever it’s ready, I’ll take it’
“And, yeah, so it was the earliest convenience, and I obviously said: ‘yeah, let me try it.’ Yuki [Tsunoda] is happy with his, and that’s that. So, it’s one little box just to tick now and make sure that we’re all okay – and peace of mind.”
During the initial stages of the season, there was extensive discourse surrounding the state of Ricciardo’s original chassis, with the driver advocating for a replacement.
In the initial four grand Prix races, Yuki Tsunoda secured three points finishes while his teammate remained without any. This heightened the scrutiny on Ricciardo, who hinted at potential issues with his chassis, although the team failed to uncover any evidence to substantiate his claims.
“We haven’t found anything wrong with what I had, but sometimes these things might be visible, might not [be],” he acknowledged during the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Look, regardless, even if I had my old chassis, it doesn’t change my approach into the weekend… But I’m sure deep down it will help one way shape or form.”
Although his strategy didn’t lead to his initial points finish of the season, Daniel Ricciardo maintains a glimmer of hope that a reversal in luck could validate both himself and his chassis theory.
“Say the next five [races], completely do this 180 [turn], so to speak, then I would have confidence in saying: ‘alright, maybe we will never know what it was, but something didn’t maybe feel right with the previous chassis I was racing,'” he reflected.
“But yeah, I would love to be here in five races time and say that, because it means the season has definitely turned around and kind of put that thing to bed. We’ll see, but I’m encouraged so far.”
