Daniel Ricciardo F1 News: RB boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid stars' performance

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB, Visa, RB, China, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Ricciardo boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid RB stars' performance

Ricciardo and Tsunoda both crashed out in China

Stuart Telford

Tuesday 23 April 2024 21:57

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Daniel Ricciardo had an abject Chinese Grand Prix, and now his Visa Cash App RB boss Laurent Mekies has spoken out about the performance of his two drivers.

Australian Ricciardo suffered race-ending damage when he was hit by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll at the Turn 14 hairpin, prompting an angry response from the 34-year-old.

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Ricciardo wasn't alone in having a disappointing outing at the Shanghai International Circuit, with his RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda joining him in crashing out of Sunday's main race.

It was an unwelcome double DNF for Red Bull Racing's sister team, and Mekies detailed his disappointment in an interview with RacingNews365.

Daniel Ricciardo also crashed out in Japan

Laurent Mekies doesn't blame his drivers

Ricciardo under pressure

Tsunoda is 11th in the drivers' standings on seven points, whilst Ricciardo is yet to score a point, putting the Australian driver's position in the sport beyond 2024 into some doubt.

Ricciardo had been tipped at the start of the season to return to Red Bull to partner Max Verstappen from 2025, but he needs to get back on track, and fast, if he wants to realise that dream.

"It is super disappointing because you get both your cars taken out of the race in separate incidents by competitors [within] one minute," Mekies said.

"So it is very disappointing. We feel we had everything to fight for that P10. We were in that fight.

"Daniel was producing a strong drive until then - just before the safety car, he was actually attacking Lewis [Hamilton]. We feel we were in good shape to fight with Nico [Hulkenberg] for that position. It's the way it is. We've lost that opportunity through no fault of our drivers. So we know we have to take it on the chin and move forward.

"For sure, it's difficult to swallow but we need to look at the positives. The positives are that once again here, we had time to fight for the P10. And every weekend, it's a fight for that last half-a-tenth to be in that fight or not. And we were here as well, this weekend."