Daniel Ricciardo has contended that it was “hard to shine” in a close midfield pack in the 2024 Formula 1 season amid the revelation that he has lost his seat with RB.
RB has revealed the much-expected news that Ricciardo has been dropped mid-season to allow Liam Lawson to complete the remaining six rounds of this campaign.
Ricciardo’s comeback to the Red Bull stable last term revolved around his desire to return to the senior team, but that dream has now dissolved with his RB departure.
READ MORE: Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB for remainder of F1 2024
The Australian exits having been lagging 10 points behind his less-experienced team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who also out-qualified Ricciardo 12 times across 18 rounds.
Ricciardo, who suspects that age caught up with him during his second F1 stint, admitted before his axing that results had been beneath his pre-season expectations.
“I don’t wish to be in the middle, for sure,” Ricciardo told media including Motorsport Week in Singapore last week when assessing his performances in 2024.
“Obviously I look back at my year. Yes, if you ask me in January, ‘how do you think the year is going to go?’ I would have said, ‘yeah, I expect it to go better than this’.
“But it’s not through lack of anything really. I’ve really felt like I put everything into it this year.
“Sometimes the result doesn’t come out the way you wish or hope, or doesn’t translate to the effort you’ve put in. But that’s sport.
“You can always argue both ways. It’s like anything. You’re gonna have fans, people that see the good.
“You’re gonna have others as well that say, ‘ah well, I wasn’t consistent enough’, or this and that.
“I’m always going to look myself in the mirror and try and be as critical of myself as possible.”
Ricciardo makes revelation on F1 midfield
Ricciardo produced glimpses throughout the campaign that provided promise that he could return to his best, including a run to fourth place in the Miami Sprint race.
However, those sporadic high-level showings never translated into a sustained run as Ricciardo was unable to register a points finish in consecutive races all season.
But with RB’s competitiveness waning as upgrades induced unwanted traits, Ricciardo has claimed that it was tough to stand out as his team lost ground in the order.
“I wish I’d found some more consistency this year, but, honestly, getting back into the sport after the McLaren period, I was more just looking for speed,” he added.
“Like proving to myself I could still run at the front with these guys. There has been moments of that. Obviously I wish I could produce it every weekend.
“But if I take a little bit of heat away from myself, I think it’s also hard to do in a midfield battle.
“Every track kind of suits one or the other, and it’s hard to shine when you’re in such a tight fight. That’s where I think all of us drivers have moments this year.
“But it’s been hard for someone to be consistently, at least in the midfield battle, consistently to be the guy. At least from what I’ve seen. Yeah, it’s tricky.
“But if I’ve made it hard on them or not, at the end of the day, they’re [Red Bull] going to make the decision.
“At least I’ll put in everything I can and not feel, ‘ah, I could have done more there’. I feel like I’ve applied myself, then the rest is in their hands.”
READ MORE: Daniel Ricciardo responds to immediate F1 RB exit
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