F1 expert demands justice for Daniel Ricciardo, exposing unfair bias

Daniel Ricciardo has been under fire since his return to F1 after a disastrous stint at McLaren. Liam Lawson’s strong performances as a substitute last year have put even more pressure on the Australian, who has struggled to impress in the paddock. As he fights to save his future in F1 and V-CARB, former driver Jolyon Palmer has come out in his defence.

“I think Ricciardo did a good job”said Jolyon Palmer on F1TV’s post-race show at the Austrian GP.

Palmer spoke to Will Buxton and Davide Valsecchi about Ricciardo’s victory at Spielberg. Denouncing this unfair bias, he added: “Every time he doesn’t perform well it hits the headlines because he’s under pressure. But he’s actually had some quiet results recently.”

Ricciardo, for his part, knows he is under pressure. Before the Austrian Grand Prix, there were rumours that he would be replaced mid-season, which would have ended his F1 career. However, he refused to give up and responded by finishing in the points again in Spielberg.

Ricciardo’s season started on a disappointing note, with Yuki Tsunoda largely outperforming the Perth-born driver, but he has improved in recent times. He will take on the Japanese driver and is checking in with V-CARB in the hope of securing a contract extension for 2025.

However, Ricciardo will need to be more consistent in his performances. 2023 has been a mixed year for the 34-year-old, but his good weekends deserve to be highlighted as much as his bad ones. That’s what prompted Palmer to publicly salute Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo hopes to convince Helmut Marko at the Austrian GP

Red Bull has a history of replacing drivers mid-season and Ricciardo fears a similar scenario. Last year, he returned to the grid when Nyck de Vries was sacked by the Faenza team after just 10 races.

However, with his performance in Austria and an upward trajectory, Ricciardo will be hoping that Red Bull boss Helmut Marko will take it easy on him. Speaking about Marko, Ricciardo said (per Fox):

“I think this weekend helped. As I said, he’s a bit more consistent now. So we have to keep going like that. And hopefully by the summer break he (Marko) will be lying on a beach somewhere saying: ‘Ricciardo, he’s still in good shape’.”

Even if Red Bull have to give Liam Lawson a seat for 2025 if they want to prevent him from joining a rival, it’s hard to see anyone other than Ricciardo making way for the New Zealander.

To keep his place at Red Bull’s sister team, Ricciardo must beat or at least match Tsunoda at the end of the season.