There was a point at the end of last year when there was a real sense that Daniel Ricciardo was opting to take Sergio Pérez’s Formula One seat at Red Bull for 2025.
Ricciardo made it clear on his mid-season return to the grid with AlphaTauri (now RB) that a return to Red Bull, the same seat he vacated in 2018, was his ultimate target. As Pérez struggled in the second half of the season, suggestions of that happening only increased.
But, Ricciardo did very little to press his case early in 2024. He often trailed teammate Yuki Tsunoda and, apart from his P4 run in Miami sprint qualifying and the race, failed to deliver a points finish in ahead of Canada and sits 14th in the driver standings. Meanwhile, Pérez performed well enough to earn a contract extension until 2026, ending Ricciardo’s hopes of moving up anytime in the near future.
On the back of Pérez’s confirmation, Ricciardo admitted that he had to “hold myself accountable for not doing anything very good” this season. “When you’re trying to fight for a top seat, you have to do some amazing things,” he said.
Through Canadian Grand PrixRicciardo’s difficult start to the season changed his focus from fighting for a top spot to fighting for his current seat.
No one questioned Ricciardo’s future more than Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion who was part of the Sky Sports broadcast team for his home race in Montreal.
Jacques Villeneuve leveled harsh criticism at Daniel Ricciardo in Montreal. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
“Why is he still here?” Villeneuve said of Ricciardo, questioning why he continues to struggle with his cars and declaring that “his image keeps him in F1 more than his actual results.” A brutal takedown, one that quickly went viral because it’s so rare for a pundit to be so outspoken on an English-language F1 broadcast.
Villeneuve was harsh – perhaps too harsh – but few would dispute the element of truth in what he said. Ricciardo has been clear throughout this year that he knows he’s not doing enough work, and there’s still a lot of performance to look for.
Just 24 hours later, he saw it. In treacherous, windy conditions, Ricciardo not only made it into Q3 for the second time this season, but stuck his RB car fifth on the grid, within two-tenths of pole position. Perfect timing, especially on the back of Tsunoda’s confirmation of RB for 2025 just 90 minutes ago.
This meant that Ricciardo entered the media pen after qualifying with some of his old swagger and flash. He knew the questions were coming, that Villeneuve’s name would come up. Ricciardo hadn’t fully listened to what was said about him, he said, “he just heard that he was talking s—.”
“But he always does,” Ricciardo continued. “I think he’s hit his head a few too many times, I don’t know if he’s playing ice hockey or something. But yes. Anyway. I will not give him the time of day.” Then came a “but…” and a lean near the microphones: “All those people can absorb this! I’d like to say more, but that’s fine. We’ll leave him alone.”
After all, it’s just qualifying. We saw this kind of flash from Ricciardo in Miami in the sprint, only to lose it when it mattered in the grand prix sessions. Still, it’s a perfectly timed clapback to Villeneuve’s criticism.
But linking the two directly would hurt Ricciardo. He revealed that after Monaco, he made a concerted effort to try to understand why things were not working, beyond his track performance and data such as braking points or corner speed. This required calling not only the team’s management and engineers, but also his inner circle outside the track, and asking them to be open books with their feedback.
Ricciardo took P5 and finished P8 on a rainy weekend in Montreal. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
“It’s like, OK, what are some other things that affect my performances?” Ricciardo said. “Am I going into a race weekend not feeling strong or not feeling this or that?
“I think I had a bit of good self-therapy after Monaco, and I just sat back and looked at the things I was doing wrong away from the track. Or giving too much time to people and by the time I got to the race day or whatever, I’m a little flatter.
“Deep down, I know what I can do, and I’m just making sure I’m in this place to do it more often.”
And make sure those flashes of speed will be something that counts when it counts on Sunday. Ricciardo’s Canadian Grand Prix was far from straightforward, with a car crawling on the start line — which Ricciardo suspected was due to a clutch issue — triggering a jump start and a five-second penalty. He overcame the chaos and took advantage of some late incidents to grab four points for P8, almost doubling his total for the season. That alone in high-pressure conditions felt like a victory for Ricciardo.
“All in all, (I’m) happy,” he said. “These races, it’s hard to be perfect. I was wrong, obviously we were just trying to survive once. So (I’m) just happy that we finally got there.”
Canada marked the first points-scoring grand prix for Ricciardo. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
The bigger takeaway for Ricciardo from the Montreal weekend was that it went well from the moment he turned his first laps in FP1 into the race. For the first time this season, every session was positive.
“It’s nice to be competitive from Friday to Sunday,” Ricciardo said. “I’m happy. (I’ve) just got to keep it rolling.”
Ricciardo has time on his side when it comes to proving to Red Bull what he can do and securing an extension with RB. If it wants to make a difference, reserve driver Liam Lawson is ready to step up, as the young Kiwi proved in his five-race stand-in when Ricciardo was injured last year. But there’s no reason for the team to rush into making that call just yet.
Ricciardo hopes Montreal will serve as a turning point in his season, a breakthrough after earlier struggles to better understand where he’s been going wrong. Importantly, he also wanted to make sure he maintained the feeling he brought last weekend.
“The little energy, the little chip on my shoulder that I carried into the weekend, I have to make sure that stays there, and just keep that level of intensity,” Ricciardo said.
“Sometimes being a bit… I don’t know if I should be angry or just increase my testosterone. But I think it helps me.”
(Top photo of Daniel Ricciardo: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
