Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has warned Daniel Ricciardo that he must “come up with something soon” following his lacklustre start to the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Ricciardo has reiterated since his comeback to the Red Bull stable at the beginning of last year that his ultimate ambition is to return to the Austrian outfit’s senior team.
The Australian is competing in his first full season since being axed from McLaren in 2022, having been handed a reprieve with Red Bull’s second-string squad last term.
However, Ricciardo’s opening to this season has been underwhelming despite high expectations for the rebranded team through its closer technical alliance with Red Bull.
Ricciardo has qualified behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda at both rounds to date and endured a miserable Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, spinning en route to a 16th-place finish.
Ahead of Ricciardo’s home weekend in Melbourne, Marko has ramped up the pressure on the eight-time F1 race winner with the public declaration that he must improve.
“There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel,” Marko told Speedweek. “Yuki’s qualifying was very good, and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”
Tsunoda secured RB’s first top-10 starting berth in Jeddah, but the Japanese driver regressed from a promising grid spot in the race for the second consecutive round.
Marko asserts that the Faenza-based squad must strive to understand the reasons for its VCARB 01 chassis being unable to translate its strong one-lap into race trim.
“At least Tsunoda is very good in qualifying,” he added. “Then they are in the points in the first stint, only to fall further behind afterwards.
“Whether they are putting too much strain on the tyres or there are other reasons is what you need to find out.”
Meanwhile, the Austrian stalwart also reserved praise for Sergio Perez, who is under pressure to secure a Red Bull extension amid a tough campaign last time out.
The Mexican has followed Max Verstappen home in both races to secure successive Red Bull 1-2s, with Marko divulging Perez has adopted his team-mate’s set-ups.
“Max makes the difference in terms of managing the rear of the car, which is nervous, but cars that don’t move like that are not fast. Perez easily drives cars that are more stable,” he explained. “That’s why in the first races of 2022, when the RB18 was overweight, he managed to be quick because the car was understeering and had a stable rear end.
“This year Sergio is no longer experimenting, but starts every grand prix , more or less, with the same set-up as Verstappen.”
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