Ricciardo Hit With Damning Verdict After 'Amateur Mistake': 'Gone Before Miami'

Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 12:00

British racing driver Richard Bradley heavily criticized Daniel Ricciardo for his latest incident during the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix, as he suggested the Honey Badger will be replaced in RB.

Daniel Ricciardo didn't really get to show what he's got during the most recent race at Suzuka Circuit. He suffered a big crash after colliding with Alex Albon ahead of corner number three on the opening lap of the race.

The stewards investigated the collision and delivered a verdict, saying it was a racing incident as Ricciardo was trying to leave space for Lance Stroll on his left-hand side.

However, not everyone agreed with this decision. On the Track GP Podcast, Richard Bradley stated he saw the incident as a clear rookie mistake by the Australian driver. He also suggested that he believes Ricciardo will be replaced in two races.

"As soon as we go to Europe, he's gone after Miami. I mean that crash that happened in Suzuka, I did a lot of my racing in my junior years in Japan and I did Super Formula GT there, so I've raced at Suzuka loads of times."

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"And that crash, it was almost like a complete lapse of concentration. At that point, if you come out of that first corner, you know you're going to have cars in your blind spot."

The British Racing driver went as far as to compare this incident to a mistake that a Formula 4 driver would make as he said:

"There's a huge blind spot in a Formula 1 car anyway and if there's a car on your outside there, it doesn't really matter what happens because you're not going to be able to overtake the car in front."

"So, to swing across into [Alex] Albon like he did, it was an amateur mistake that you'd expect a Formula 4 driver to make."

Though the initial rumors of Ricciardo's ultimatum until the Miami Grand Prix were dismissed by Red Bull's Helmut Marko, Bradley doesn't see the 34-year-old making it past the sixth round of the 2024 season.