Daniel Ricciardo responded to the warning he received from Helmut Marko following the second race of the season.
The RB F1 driver is one of the main candidates for the second seat in Red Bull starting from 2025. However, he still needs strong performances this season to prove himself, and so far, the Australian driver hasn't shown anything spectacular.
The Australian driver was twice outqualified by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, and in terms of head-to-head race results, he only beat him once.
The person who has a big say when it comes to who gets to driver for Red Bull, Helmut Marko, wrote in his column for speedweek.com after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
"There's a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel. Yuki's qualifying was very good, and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon."
During the FIA press conference ahead of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, the Honey Badger was asked whether the comments of the 80-year-old were annoying for him, and he responded:
"It's not annoying. A big part of our job… the most important part is the driving but a big part is talking to you guys, hearing when things go well everything is talking positively and when they don't, they don't talk so positively. That’s part of it."
Formula 1 world Champion Alan Jones said this week that he thinks we've already the best days of Ricciardo. The 34-year-old later responded to that statement, saying he had nothing to prove to anyone. He now added:
"The more I get into the sport, the more I know I come back here because I believe I can do it. I believe I belong here, and it's really. When people ask, 'Do you have a point to prove?' or 'Keep people happy?' I am here for myself because I know I can still do it."