In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo said he realised early this year that he wasn’t performing well enough to deserve being re-hired by Red Bull.
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In brief
Ricciardo ‘frustrated by my performances’
Having missed out on a seat at Red Bull in 2025, following their announcement they will retain Sergio Perez for two more seasons, Ricciardo admitted that he was not happy with his performances from an early stage this year.
“I look at my season honestly and I know that, yes, although Miami was amazing, that one good result is not going to be enough when you’re maybe trying to get a top seat in the sport,” he told RDS. “That’s not enough.
“I’ve been probably frustrated in some of my own performances where I’m just not having that consistency week-in, week-out.”
Ricciardo went into his first full year back in F1 hoping to secure a return to F1 but admitted “already after the first few races all my attention was really on here [RB] and how I can keep doing better.
“The story in my head, and the nice way to finish my career, I’ve said, of course I’d love to go back to Red Bull. But I simply need to be doing a bit better here before anything like that can possibly happen.”
Montreal’s Senna tribute
The kerbs at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve’s opening corners have been painted green and yellow for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in tribute to Ayrton Senna.
The triple world champion died thirty years ago during a tragic San Marino Grand Prix weekend at Imola where fellow driver Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life. Senna and Ratzenberger were remembered at this year’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, while several drivers have raced with Senna-inspired helmet designs featuring the Brazilian driver’s green and yellow colours from the Brazilian flag.
Although not regularly referred to as such, the opening sequence of corners at the Montreal circuit have been officially named ‘Virage Senna’ since the nineties, following Senna’s death.
Martins and Maini complete Alpine tests
Alpine junior drivers Victor Martins and Kush Maini both tested a ground effect Formula 1 car for the first time this week at the Red Bull Ring. McLaren and Aston Martin also ran their 2022 cars at the track earlier this week.
Martins ran the second day of a two-day test in a 2022 A522 yesterday. Both drivers had previously driven a 2021 Alpine A521 and this was their first experience behind the wheel of a modern ground effect car.
“It was another positive test for me, and it was a great opportunity to learn as much as possible,” Martins said. “We maximised the day’s running, going through both qualifying and race simulations. To have the track to myself and get the maximum enjoyment out of the car was an added bonus after a tough start to my Formula 2 season, it certainly reaffirmed my confidence as a driver.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Who is Jack Doohan? Australia’s young racer will drive for Alpine F1 in Canada practice (ABC News)
‘It will be my first time driving at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which I am looking forward to. I am grateful to the team for the opportunity to get more track time, and also familiarise myself with 2024 machinery early in the season.’
Verstappen is feeling the heat from rivals – but not his Red Bull team mate (Metro)
‘The matrix of ‘supertimes’, which is based on the fastest single lap by each driver over each race weekend to measure raw pace, shows Red Bull has the second biggest pace gap between their pairing. It’s a gap of 0.624 seconds. The largest gap is between Williams’ Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant (0.914sec), while the smallest is between Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly (0.051).’
F1 driver Stroll happy to be back home this week (Calgary Herald)
‘Stroll, who grew up in Montreal, was on the West Island to promote Tim Hortons’ new flatbread pizzas. Stroll burned some rubber in the parking lot before driving a Tim Hortons race car to the drive-through window to order a pizza while wearing a helmet and full racing gear.’
F1 teams harnessing AI for speed and strategy (Straits Times)
Laurent Mekies: ‘With the cost cap, the field has never been so close. Can AI help us reduce the gap? We believe it can.’
Sainz still deciding on ‘many options’ at Formula 1 (Sky)
‘Carlos Sainz Jnr reveals he wants to think about his options ‘calmly’ after the driver market changed with the news of Sergio Perez continuing with Red Bull for another two years.’
‘Visma-Lease a Bike announced that Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk will not continue in the Critérium du Dauphiné after falling in a mass crash on stage five. Richard Plugge, the team’s manager, reacted to a spectator’s video showing many riders in the peloton falling and sliding down the wet Tarmac as if on ice, asking ‘would this happen in F1? Or would the safety organisation take measures upfront?”’
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