There are downsides to RB’s decision to let Iwasa do the training

The Visa RB team’s decision to give Ayumu Iwasa the opportunity to take the first Friday practice session in Suzuka behind the wheel of Daniel Ricciardo’s car is not without its drawbacks.

It is only partially justified, because every team is obliged to provide young riders with training during the season. In this case, a certain condition must be met: the experience of such a driver should not exceed two Grand Prix. When both cars of the Faenza team are driven by the Japanese on Friday morning, both Honda motorists and local fans will appreciate this.

But it is somewhat surprising that on such a difficult track as Suzuka it is important that each driver gradually “rolls in” to achieve the desired level of speed, and here, as a rule, beginners are not allowed to drive. Since Ricciardo is not driving the best at the start of the season, it is important for him, despite all his experience, to work as much as possible on track to gain the necessary confidence.

So far, Yuki Tsunoda is ahead of his Australian partner both in qualifying and in the races – the only exception was the Bahrain Grand Prix, but there the team asked the drivers to change positions, and Yuki hid his outrage about this not. It was he who earned Visa RB the first points in Australia in 2024. A missed training will clearly not do Ricciardo any good, although this is of course a matter for the team and it cannot be ruled out that he was warned about this in advance, even before the start of the season.

But it so happened that recently rumors appeared that after a few stages, if Daniel does not show more convincing results, he could be replaced by Liam Lawson, the team’s reserve rider. However, this was immediately refuted by Visa RB, Red Bull and the New Zealander’s management.

In any case, it seems that the moment has not been chosen to invite Ayumu Iwasa, although there are quite obvious arguments in favor of such a decision. However, Ricciardo has not yet lived up to the expectations placed on him, and this is also a fact that greatly upsets the Australian’s fans.

In addition, the situation is aggravated by the fact that the weather forecast promises rain on all days of the coming weekend in Suzuka, which could also affect the nature of the track work. And if it turns out that the drivers can only carry out one first training session normally due to the vagaries of the weather, this will make Ricciardo’s chances of achieving normal results even smaller.

Moreover, last time he raced on the Japanese circuit a long time ago, in the fall of 2022, while still driving a McLaren, and took 11th place, and last year it was the Japanese stage of the season that became the last. one, on which he was replaced by Liam Lawson. Ricciardo had not yet fully recovered from his left hand injury and only returned behind the wheel during the American Grand Prix.

The pressure he is currently under will only increase with the team’s decision to replace him with Iwasa for Friday’s first practice, whatever that may be. Although at the moment it is extremely important for Ricciardo to regain confidence behind the wheel of the VCARB 01 car, which he is clearly missing, and rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the team.