Daniel Ricciardo has been warned he needs to “come up with something soon”.
The Australian driver has made a lacklustre start to the 2024 Formula 1 season and had a miserable time at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday morning.
Ricciardo was never a factor in the race after a poor qualifying session on Saturday where he was eliminated in Q1.
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Teammate Yuki Tsunoda has finished ahead of Ricciardo in the two qualifying sessions there have been so far this year.
The races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have done nothing to bolster Ricciardo’s hopes of earning a drive with the senior Red Bull team in 2025.
The Visa Cash App RB driver is instead facing more pressure to retain his current seat with Kiwi Liam Lawson waiting for a chance to earn a full-time spot on the grid.
Now Red Bull kingmaker Helmut Marko has put more public pressure on Ricciardo to squeeze more speed out of his struggling RB VCARB 01 car.
“There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel,” Marko, Red Bull’s senior adviser, wrote in a column for Speed Week.
“Yuki’s qualifying performance was very good and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.
“Where there is work: At least Tsunoda is very good in qualifying, then they are at the top of the World Championship points in the first stint, only to fall further and further behind afterwards. You cannot maintain the speed in the long term. Whether they are putting too much strain on the tires or there are other reasons is what you need to find out.”
It emerged after the race in Jeddah that Ricciardo was the victim of a team pit stop stuff up that took more than 40 seconds.
However, there is still no explaining the ugly moment on Lap 49 of 50 when he bizarrely spun out at a chicane.
The sight of Ricciardo losing control left Sky Sports commentators Simon Lazenby and Karun Chandhok in disbelief and both said the 34-year-old must have been tagged from behind.
Except replays showed Ricciardo simply slid across the kerb without any explanation.
It was another blow in Ricciardo’s hopes of being promoted to the senior Red Bull team in 2025.
“It’s very odd,” Chandhok said.
“You have to say, in that fight for the Red Bull seat. Perez has done a very good job. Seven and a half seconds behind Max is a very, very solid performance and that’s exactly what they want. They want him to be ahead of everyone else and to just be there if Max has an issue.”
Lazenby said: “It’s been a frustrating night for Danny Ricciardo. He hasn’t been able to make an impression.
“Lost places at the start and hasn’t really made an impression on this race.”