Christian Albers: Ricciardo is no longer the same

After the first three stages of the season, Daniel Ricciardo remains one of seven championship drivers without any points to his name, and arrows of criticism are already flying at him in full force. There were rumors that he could be replaced ahead of schedule, but Peter Bayer, executive director of the Visa RB team, hastened to refute them.

Nevertheless, the fact is that Daniel is still performing weaker than his team, fans and himself would like. Christian Albers, a former Formula 1 driver who works as an expert for the Dutch press, believes Ricciardo is too distracted by his business projects, preventing him from focusing on what is important.

“I’m a bit annoyed by the fact that he keeps laughing and doing things that have nothing to do with racing,” Albers responded on a podcast with tabloid De Telegraaf. – But we should only concentrate on pilot projects. Only then will it be possible to have fun again.

Racers usually prefer to stay in the shadows until they have defeated all their rivals, and only then can they step back into the spotlight. But with Ricciardo it is exactly the other way around and that makes a painful impression.”

According to Albers, the Faenza team should now consider taking over the Australian’s place from Visa RB reserve driver Liam Lawson: “I just don’t understand why they are afraid to make this choice. Let’s face it: Lawson beat Yuki Tsunoda in multiple races (in 2023, when he replaced the injured Daniel), despite Tsunoda regularly driving for Nick de Vries, and now ahead of Ricciardo.

I don’t see any prospects in continuing the collaboration with Ricciardo, he is no longer the same. He has to prove that he can stay ahead of the rest. And I don’t think the team is doing it fairly. She has Lawson, who is doing great, and he just needs to be given a chance, but that’s not happening.”