Blundell: It will be difficult for Ricciardo to regain his strength

Daniel Ricciardo will have to work very hard if he wants to race again in 2024, according to Mark Blundell, a British ex-Formula 1 driver who raced for teams such as Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren in the early 1990s. .

Daniel will sit on the bench for Red Bull Racing this season and in several interviews the Australian has repeatedly emphasized that he needs this break and that skipping the season will only benefit him.

“I’m not sure if he really wanted to miss this season, I think it was more difficult, and the question is first of all, could he really count on a place in the team? – Blundell argued in an interview with PlanenF1. – Second, did it make sense to return to the starting field? Maybe it was about a team that wasn’t as strong as he would have liked.

Skipping a year and spending it comfortably is an understandable wish, it gives you the opportunity to take a break and reflect. But I think it will be very difficult for him to regain his strength and return to racing after getting a spot in the team that he thinks he deserves.

It will take some work, and I don’t think he will be able to reopen the door to the starting field that easily. He has a lot to prove for that.”

When asked about the reasons why the relationship between Ricciardo and McLaren didn’t work, Blundell replied: “From the outside I can’t say for sure that a close relationship has developed between Ricciardo and the team, and that he found out It’s probably also partly due to the fact that his driving style didn’t quite suit the car as the difference in lap times between him and Lando Norris was clearly visible.

On the other hand, I just don’t think he worked really well with McLaren. In theory everything looked good, but I’m not sure if it was in reality. Sometimes it happens that people do not match the characters and therefore it is not possible to achieve the desired. Sometimes the rider and his partner are at different stages in their careers, and it may seem to him that he should not make extra efforts to take the team to the next level.

And sometimes it might happen that the team expects more from the rider, and when they don’t get it, disappointment sets in. What I’m saying is that there can be several reasons why a relationship can get upset.

Lando added great – I think Daniel wasn’t ready for this. From the very beginning, this became a source of additional pressure for him, and he could not, in fact, rise to the level of a partner. It happens, we have seen this more than once, but the specific reason for this is always difficult to determine.