Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo scored points for the third time this season at the Austrian Grand Prix to reach double figures for the campaign.
Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t had the easiest season and has regularly had to deal with stories surrounding his future, with one of those lines coming from Red Bull chief Helmut Marko.
Many expected the experienced Australian to be the team leader at V-CARB this year, but Yuki Tsunoda has outperformed Ricciardo for much of this campaign.
However, when it came to the race at the Austrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was the stronger driver after Tsunoda had edged him out in the Sprint Race.
That was less important for RB given points are only handed out down to 8 and neither driver was in contention to progress through the field having missed out on SQ3.
Ricciardo got the better of Tsunoda in qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix and while the Japanese driver never looked close to challenging for points, Ricciardo came home ahead of Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc to secure a 9-place finish.
Journalist Tim Hauraney was speaking on the Nailing The Apex Podcast and noticed something very interesting about Ricciardo’s set-up choices during the race weekend.
While he had a notable advantage over Tsunoda during the race, it might not have been completely positive for RB.
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Daniel Ricciardo made interesting RB set-up choice for the Austrian Grand Prix
Talking about Ricciardo’s points-scoring finish in Austria, Hauraney said: “I think, from my understanding, Daniel [Ricciardo] was using the old spec car.
“I think he reverted back to older parts on the car for qualifying and then obviously into the race because once you hit parc ferme you can’t do anything to the car.
“So, from qualifying and then through the race, [he] had older parts on the car whereas I believe Yuki [Tsunoda] was running the newer parts.
“It’s hard to say if it was a great performance from Daniel, I mean, for sure, what about Yuki though?
“Was it the fact that these upgrades are kind of resembling downgrades? That’s the question I think they’re going to have to sort out before they get to the British Grand Prix.
“It kind of looks like this thing has been rushed, I would say something similar to what Aston Martin has going on, it looks like Aston Martin’s upgrades were rushed and it doesn’t look like they’re really taking and the same thing with RB as well.”
RB brought their biggest update package of the season to Barcelona but they appear to have gone backwards since then.
It’s particularly worrying that Ricciardo was apparently faster in Austria once he reverted back to their original 2024 car.
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“These upgrades they’ve bought, it hasn’t really provided them with a step at all really.”
Daniel Ricciardo’s future looks safe among growing Liam Lawson speculation
There are pros and cons to being a part of the Red Bull family in Formula 1 and job security is arguably one of the major downsides.
Time and again, drivers have been swapped or let go midway through the campaign and this season speculation has arisen about whether Ricciardo would see out the season.
He and Tsunoda have both missed out on promotion to the senior Red Bull team after Sergio Perez was awarded a contract extension despite his poor recent form.
Ricciardo looks set to avoid being replaced by the talented Liam Lawson during the summer break which will boost his chances of earning a contract for 2025.
However, Lawson has a clause in his contract that allows him to move on at the end of the year if he’s not offered a race seat for the following campaign.
There is a small chance that a seat may open up at RB, with Ricciardo potentially in negotiations with one of their rivals for next season.
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