Ricciardo Returned Because He Believes He 'Can Win Races Again'

Monday, 15 April 2024 at 22:30

Racing Bulls driver Daniel Ricciardo suggested he can still stand on the podium and compete for the race wins again.

Daniel Ricciardo has had a challenging start to the 2024 season. He went from being the favorite for the seat in Red Bull to now being under pressure to perform better because he might even lose his seat in RB.

Helmut Marko said ahead of the first race of the season that one of the two RB drivers who performs better might get a seat in the team from Milton Keynes.

Back then, Ricciardo was expected to outperform his teammate, but Yuki Tsunoda stepped up and is destroying the honey badger with a 4-0 qualifying head-to-head so far.

Tsunoda is also the only driver who scored points for the RB team, so naturally, many fans and experts are starting to wonder what is going on with Ricciardo.

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The Australian's goal was to get the seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2025, but when he was asked after the first four races of the season whether he would settle for RB, he told Speedcafe:

"Obviously, I don't want to just be here to be here; I want to earn that seat and the team is hopefully further up. So yeah, I guess it goes both ways. I mean, the answer is yes."

"But is it more fun fighting at the front? Is it more fun fighting for podiums and wins? Absolutely."

During his days at Red Bull, Ricciardo experienced what it was like to fight for podiums and race wins, and he showed he was able to deliver.

Maybe that is also part of why the Austrian team gave him a second chance. He still has many race weekends this season to show that the first four have been just a tiny hiccup.

According to Lawrence Barretto, Red Bull still hasn't completely dismissed Ricciardo from their candidate list. For now, he just needs to show what he's got, and the Honey Badger believes he can still fight for race wins, as he said:

"And the truth is, if I draw a line under it and I speak about myself in the third person: Why did Daniel Ricciardo return after a few months off last year?"

"Because I believe I can stand on the podium again. I can win races again. Ultimately, that is it. The belief is there… As long as that belief is still there, I think I'll be happy being here."