Daniel Ricciardo denies Alex Albon tangle a result of 2024 F1 struggles

Daniel Ricciardo has described his tangle with Alex Albon on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix as a “singular moment” rather than a continuation of his poor form in 2024.

Ricciardo has struggled for performance in the 2024 F1 season.

The Australian has been out-qualified 4-0 by teammate Yuki Tsunoda, and has only finished ahead of him in one race - Bahrain - due to team orders.

Ricciardo is under immense pressure to perform with Liam Lawson on the sidelines.

The 34-year-old’s race at Suzuka ended prematurely on Sunday after he moved across into Albon’s path on the exit of Turn 2, taking both drivers out of the race.

Speaking after the race, Ricciardo dismissed suggestions that his most recent low point was part of a recent difficult trend.

“I think today is a singular moment, I guess, in terms of: I don't look at today and think ‘oh man this year, like when it rains, it pours’ or whatever,” he said.

“I feel it was just one of those things. We know that in 24 races, it's probably likely that maybe I'm involved in another lap one incident. You know, it's just probability and that, so these things can happen.

“It obviously sucks when they do, but I don't look at it any more than today being a kind of singular incident.”

Ricciardo’s performance at the Japanese GP was a step forward on recent races.

That was despite missing FP1 as Ayumu Iwasa stepped into his car - and running in FP2 was disrupted by rain.

Ricciardo feels things are moving in the right direction ahead of China.

“Of course, it would have been nice to get a race under our belt and try to show a little bit of something that I felt we were starting to show yesterday," he added.

“But we'll do that in China. I actually test here [Suzuka] on Tuesday. So, the laps that I missed today, I'll get back on Tuesday.”