Daniel Ricciardo , the eight-time Grand Prix winner, has not got off to the best of starts this year. He was hoping to use his current VCARB stint as a launching pad toward Red Bull, but it has so far turned into a nightmare against his young teammate, Yuki Tsunoda .
At the recently concluded Japanese Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo managed a DNF in comparison to Yuki Tsunoda‘s P10 finish. The former is under immense pressure to perform and amidst this, Red Bulls team principal, Christian Horner , has backed Ricciardo to get his act right in the upcoming races.
Horner believes Ricciardo needs one good result to kick his season into gear!
Daniel‘s a big boy, he’s been around the block and he knows how things work and I think he just needs to get a good result in the bag and then the smile will return. His teammate’s delivering and that naturally puts pressure on but he’s been there before. Yuki did a good job to score a point, it’s great for him, great for Honda, good for the VCARB team so pleased for them. Christian Horer said in an interview with Total-Motorsport
Ricciardo has been making his trade at the pinnacle of motor racing since 2011. He has a plethora of experience under his belt and keeping all this in view, Horner is not too worried about the former’s current state.
Christian Horner’s take on Daniel Ricciardo’s Japanese GP crash
While Christian Horner has backed Ricciardo to put in good performances in the upcoming races, he also took the time to talk about the Australian’s crash at Suzuka. During the initial few tussles at the event, Ricciardo collided with Williams’ Alex Albon and they both went into the barriers.
Horner thinks it is hard to blame any of them for their crash.
It felt like Daniel looked to the left, Alex is to the right, sort of a racing incident. It’s a brutal place to go off and thankfully both of them are ok but from what I saw, difficult to apportion blame. Christian Horner said in the same interview
After the Japanese GP, the ongoing campaign is four rounds down with 20 events still remaining on the calendar. Next up is the Chinese GP and considering Daniel Ricciardo’s torrid run, the upcoming event could also prove to be a tough three-day outing for him. If he fails to perform at the Shanghai International Circuit, several people most definitely will start beating the drums for his potential VCARB exit!
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