Daniel Ricciardo returns to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix with happy memories. 10 years ago, it was the site of his first-ever Formula 1 win.
Ricciardo, then a driver for Red Bull, capitalised on issues for the two dominant Mercedes cars to snatch victory. It was the first of three triumphs in his first year with the Milton Keynes outfit.
The Australian would stay there for a further four seasons before taking a big risk by leaving. As Max Verstappen became an increasingly dominant presence in the team, Ricciardo instead put his faith in Renault to meet his ambitions.
In the end, that proved to be a ‘terrible’ decision, at least in the words of Peter Windsor. He left the French manufacturer within two years for a spot at McLaren, where he was comprehensively beaten by Lando Norris.
That led to Zak Brown and co. dropping him at the end of 2022 in favour of his compatriot Oscar Piastri. It briefly looked as if his time in F1 may be up until Red Bull handed him a lifeline with a return to the junior team.
Ricciardo is now trying to work his way back to the world champions, but he’s failed to meet expectations this year. Yuki Tsunoda has dominated the intra-team battle down at RB.
Jacques Villeneuve aims indirect dig at Daniel Ricciardo over new helmet design
Tsunoda has out-qualified Ricciardo at seven out of eight races so far in 2024, and out-scored by 19 points to five in the championship. The Japanese driver was the only one who made a strong case for a promotion to the top team, although Red Bull opted to renew Sergio Perez anyway.
Outwardly, the 34-year-old has retained a characteristically upbeat demeanour despite a bruising start to the campaign. He’s running a special helmet for this weekend’s race, as RB revealed on their X account.
The design features a ‘maple syrup effect’, with golden streaks running down each side. The topping is of course synonymous with the country of Canada.
But speaking on Sky Sports F1 during FP1, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve expressed his disapproval. He implicitly suggested that Ricciardo should be focused more on closing the gap to Tsunoda.
“You can do that when you’re winning,” he said. “It’s great. When you’re not winning, and you’re getting destroyed by your teammate, maybe you shouldn’t focus that much on that and figure out how to get quicker.”
Key Red Bull figure wants Daniel Ricciardo out for Liam Lawson
Rather than eyeing up a reunion with Verstappen, Ricciardo now needs to focus on keeping his seat RB. The team appear in no rush to make a final decision over their line-up, but he could be in trouble if he can’t turn his season around.
That’s because reserve driver Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings. Lawson thrust himself into the conversation for a 2025 seat with an impressive five-race stand-in stint last year after Ricciardo broke his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix.
There have been rumours that the eight-time race-winner could lose his drive to the 22-year-old during the season. However, Helmut Marko has hit out at the Lawson camp for circulating ‘nonsense’.
Still, Sky F1 commentator David Croft says the executive director, who oversees the Red Bull driver programme, would ‘dearly love’ to call up the New Zealander. However, Ricciardo seems to retain the backing of team principal Christian Horner, which is keeping him safe for now.
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