Last week, Visa RB driver Daniel Ricciardo found himself under serious pressure. Helmut Marko assured the Austrian press that Liam Lawson would soon be joining Red Bull’s sister team. According to CEO Peter Bayer, a decision about the line-up will be made during the summer break. Ricciardo acknowledges that he has sometimes disappointed this year, but he is not overly concerned for now.
After the qualification for the Austrian GP, Daniel Ricciardo spoke to the press. The eight-time race winner was just not fast enough for Q3 and resigned to the fact that he would start from the eleventh place on Sunday. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda had to settle for P13 and a hefty fine. Despite the threat from reserve driver Liam Lawson, Ricciardo says he is not overly affected by the pressure on his seat.
Eternal Optimist
“I remain optimistic, but it’s frustrating to be so close,” he admitted. “Our car is simply not good enough for Q3 yet, but it’s not far off.” This is only the third time this year that Ricciardo has qualified ahead of his teammate – Tsunoda has outperformed him eight times. In the championship, the Japanese driver has a 10-point lead over his Australian teammate. Is this reason enough for Visa RB to consider a change?
Ricciardo doubts whether he should be worried this summer. “I know my year has had some highlights, but over the entire season, I may be disappointing the team a bit,” he admitted. “I sometimes expected more from myself.” However, the criticism from the media and fans of Liam Lawson seems to bother him little.
“If you’re not driving fantastically well, you’ll always face some criticism,” said Ricciardo. “Yuki is praised all the time, so it’s not like I’m losing to someone very slow. Of course, people closely watch the dynamics between me and my teammate, but the difference has never been more than half a second,” he defended.
