Ex-Haas boss Guenther Steiner believes going up against team-mates who could beat him had an impact which contributed to Daniel Ricciardo‘s decline in Formula 1.
Ricciardo’s career in F1 appears to have ended with RB‘s announcement last week that he will not complete the remaining six rounds as Liam Lawson takes his place.
The Australian’s comeback to the Red Bull stable last term revolved around a desire to earn a return to the seat with the parent team that he elected to vacate in 2018.
However, Ricciardo was unable to usurp Yuki Tsunoda on a regular basis and departed 10 points behind his less experienced team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship.
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Ricciardo’s struggles have been traced back to the disastrous spell at McLaren which saw a mutual exit agreed as Lando Norris thrashed him in consecutive seasons.
Steiner, though, is convinced that Ricciardo’s troubles can be put down to partnering stronger team-mates, comparing it to how he “killed” Nico Hulkenberg at Renault.
“Having a team-mate which beats him, maybe did that mentally to him,” Steiner told the Red Flags podcast.
“It’s like Hulkenberg, When he was at Renault with Danny, he suffered a lot. I mean, he almost finished his career, or Danny almost, let’s say it killed Hulkenberg’s career at the time.
“But now look at Hulkenberg [at Haas]. He runs circles around Danny. It’s weird how sometimes these things happen.”
Ricciardo wasn’t in a ‘good head space’
Steiner believes that the eight-time F1 race winner buckled under the growing pressure on his shoulders that derived from the constant spotlight on his performances.
“I think because it’s a sport so much on the edge that every little… If you’re mentally, you’re not above it, and obviously the pressure, which got to Danny as well,” Steiner continued.
“Everybody was watching him, ‘Oh, is Danny being okay? Is Danny good, is he bad?’ And maybe he wasn’t prepared for that and just couldn’t deal with it.
“So I think he hasn’t unlearned to drive a race car. It’s just like he’s not in a good space with his head.”
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