The pressure is already beginning to build on several drivers in the paddock right now following the first three races of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Sauber, Williams and Alpine are still pointless, while the gaps between several driver pairings on the grid will be concerning a few team bosses.
Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Damon Hill has been discussing the fate of one set of drivers in particular.
After arriving with such high hopes that they could climb to the top of the midfield and break into the leading pack, things haven’t gone to plan for Visa Cash App RB.
It’s been a difficult start to the season for Daniel Ricciardo who is now under pressure to keep his seat on the grid.
Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings to take over if called upon, although his camp remains coy about his chances of featuring in the next few races.
However, Damon Hill believes Yuki Tsunoda has to continue to fight for his survival on the grid despite an extremely positive result in Australia.
The Japanese driver – who was taking part in his 69 Grand Prix – scored six points and was the best of the rest behind the top five teams.
Damon Hill tells Yuki Tsunoda he needs to ‘fight for his survival’
The RB team are one of the most fascinating outfits on the Formula 1 grid at the moment.
Their close relationship with Red Bull and how the two teams interact when it comes to their driver line-ups makes for a unique situation.
Before the start of the season, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda suggested it was their dream to earn a promotion to the sister team.
However, three races into the campaign Ricciardo is fighting for his place on the grid having been outclassed by his teammate all season.
Tsunoda had to be asked to let the Australian go past in Bahrain due to their different strategies – much to his annoyance – and while the 23-year-old qualified in the top ten in Australia, Ricciardo was languishing down in 18.
That doesn’t mean Tsunoda can relax though, with Hill warning him that he needs to continue to concentrate on his own survival despite Ricciardo’s struggles.
Many expected him to be the slower of the two RB drivers, but the experienced Australian is being left behind by his teammate right now.
Yuki Tsunoda continues to impress with Daniel Ricciardo struggling
Discussing the fate of the RB drivers, Hill said: “Yuki [Tsunoda], just think about this, he’s going to Japan next, he’s looking strong and that’s going to mean a lot to him and he’s going to get his home race.
“This is Daniel Ricciardo’s home race, hard weekend, can he pull himself out of this? Yuki’s fighting.
“Motivation is an interesting thing isn’t it and sometimes you just can’t seem to find it and sometimes you can’t put your finger on what’s wrong.
“As I got towards the end of my career, I definitely found it hard to motivate myself because you’ve got it in your mind that there’s another life afterwards.
“When you’re younger, all you see is the future is F1, that’s all you see and I think that Yuki’s got to fight for his survival, Danny Ric’s had a career, he’s 34 now.
“So, I don’t know, maybe those things are distractions, it’s hard to re-motivate yourself when you can see all the other things that are out there.”
Tsunoda earning praise despite after positive 2024 F1 start
While Hill suggests that Tsunoda has got to fight for his survival, the Japanese driver has managed the rare feat of being praised by Helmut Marko after a race.
The Red Bull chief described him as ‘faultless’ for his display in Melbourne while Naomi Schiff was ‘hugely impressed’ by his performance.
The gap between Tsunoda and Ricciardo left the Australian ‘puzzled’ after qualifying and he’ll need to iron out those issues before the team arrive in Japan.
He’s already improved his chances of staying on the grid beyond 2024 and will have the full support of the home crowd at Suzuka.
The post ‘Looking strong’: Damon Hill tells 69-race driver he’s got to ‘fight for his survival’ in F1 after Aus GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.