“Fussy” Daniel Ricciardo urged to make crucial change to halt F1 demise

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill has told Daniel Ricciardo to stop being “fussy” amid his ongoing struggles at RB.

Ricciardo has been comprehensively out-performed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the opening three races of the 2024 F1 season.

The Australian has been out-qualified 3-0 in the opening three races, and only out-raced Tsunoda in Bahrain due to team orders.

Already, Ricciardo’s future has been questioned, with rumours emerging that Red Bull could decide to replace him with Liam Lawson mid-season.

Ricciardo had high hopes heading into 2024 as he eyed Sergio Perez’s Red Bull drive.

Giving his view on the situation, Hill feels that Ricciardo has become too fussy with how he likes his car to handle.

“Maybe he’s one of these drivers who’s matured too quickly,” Hill told F1 Nation Podcast. “You get to the point where you become fussy about how you like your car.

“When they’re very young they don’t ask the question. Look at Ollie Bearman [in Saudi Arabia]. They get one go. They don’t know anything else. They just drive.

“Once you’ve had lots of experience, sometimes the experience overwrites everything else and you’re looking for that good experience again in the set-up and feeling from the car when it’s not going to come because it’s a different car.

“Someone like Yuki’s been told, ‘You’ve got to drive it, this is what it is’ and is just getting on with it, and Daniel’s looking for something else.

“Some drivers have a style. They need a set-up, they need a kind of car, but you can’t get it.”

Hill has urged Ricciardo to “get over it” to stop his career from “evaporating”.

“At some point you have to go to Daniel: ‘Listen, your career is about to evaporate. You just have to get over it and just drive this damned thing and not look for perfection. You’re never going find it. It’s not coming.

“You’re going to have to find a way to drive this thing and wring its neck, because you’re getting beaten’.”