In one of his latest interviews, Daniel Ricciardo shared his opinion on the performance of his Racing Bulls teammate, Yuki Tsunoda.
Japanese F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda is standing 11th in the Drivers' Championship after the first five race weekends of the 2024 season.
The 23-year-old has amassed seven points for his team so far. Ricciardo, on the other hand, has scored zero points and is 18th in the Championship, seven positions behind.
The Honey Badger was on his way to scoring his first points of the season during the most recent race in China, but he got unlucky when Lance Stroll hit him from behind.
Consequently, Ricciardo had to retire his car for the second weekend in a row. While the 34-year-old couldn't really show his form in the last two weekends, the head-to-head comparison with his teammate shows that Tsunoda has generally outperformed him.
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Nevertheless, the Australian driver suggests there isn't anything special about the 23-year-old's performance. As quoted by Speedcafe, he said:
"He's driving well. Like, it's as simple as that. Is he doing anything that's let's say different? Not really. I think it's just putting together some really good laps."
Tsunoda seemingly made massive progress towards the end of the last and from the start of this season. As to what could be the catalyst for his sudden improvement, Ricciardo said:
"Mexico last year, we made a bit of a breakthrough with set-up. After that very good weekend, I think definitely made Yuki quite curious with our way of driving the car and setting it up, and naturally he's come closer to that."
"Now we are actually running the car very similar and I think he's found comfort in what I found comfort in last year."
Tsunoda remains the man to beat if the Honey Badger wants to retain his seat in RB or even have a chance at promotion to Red Bull Racing. He added:
"He's been able to kind of get the most out of that package as well. He's adapted well to that and he's driving well. He's doing good. I don't want to say… He's not doing anything crazy, but he's doing very good."
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