Daniel Ricciardo hopes that his promising showing in qualifying at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix “will keep everyone a little more quiet” amid reports over his future.
Ricciardo went into the race weekend with questions centred on the comments Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko made about Liam Lawson replacing him at RB in 2025.
Marko’s comments emanated from Ricciardo’s struggles to produce consistent results this term seeing his ambition to return to the Red Bull parent team be curtailed.
Ricciardo’s need to extract more competitive outings took a wrong turn at the Red Bull Ring as he exited Sprint Qualifying in Q1 as RB’s issues with updates continued.
However, the Australian, who has been adamant he wants to remain with RB, rebounded from that setback to wind up 0.010s from hauling his car into Q3 in qualifying.
Ricciardo believes that his struggles across this campaign have been overblown as he pointed out that the gap to team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has never been excessive.
“I know my year…sure I’ve had a few little highs but as a whole, it hasn’t been what was probably expected and what I want from myself,” he said.
“When you’re not kicking arse, of course, you’re going to receive a little bit of harsh criticism. But at some times, it’s probably blown apart.
“I don’t think the gap has ever been, or rarely has it been half a second or something to Yuki. Last week, yes he got me by less than a tenth.
“I think also he’s been getting a lot of praise, so I’m not getting my arse kicked by someone that’s not very fast. I think everyone acknowledges he’s got very good one-lap pace.
“But the team-mate battle is obviously one that’s closely watched and today obviously happy to put some laps together and maybe keep everyone a little more quiet.”
Earlier this week, Ricciardo admitted he was avoiding being drawn into speculation as he insisted strong performances would transform the perception of his season.
“I think I’m currently in the race seat, so I’ve got to do everything I can to control the things that I can,” Ricciardo explained.
“If I kick ass here, if I kick ass at Silverstone, then I think the narrative can change. I think I obviously have to own that and be on top of what I can do.
“Yeah. I’m sure qualifying fifth in Montreal made Helmut smile. If I can do that a few more times, then I’m sure I’ll make him smile.
“It’s still so heavily on performance, and yeah, just keep focused on that.”
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