Daniel Ricciardo’s torrid weekend explained: “We see a few flaws with the car”

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that his RB F1 car wasn’t “functioning at 100 per cent” during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo enjoyed a torrid weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as he was out-qualified by teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda managed to progress into Q3, with the gap between the pair around 0.5s.

On race day, a slow pit stop compromised Ricciardo’s race as he ran at the back of the field.

To make matters worse, Ricciardo spun late on at Turn 1, but managed to keep it out of the barriers.

Reflecting on his weekend, Ricciardo said: “It was always going to be an uphill battle. We simply don’t have everything functioning at 100 percent.

“We see a few flaws, honestly, with the car, so we’ve gotta get that fixed for the next one.”

It means Ricciardo has started the 2024 on the back foot relative to Tsunoda.

The eight-time grand prix winner has his eyes on a Red Bull seat next year, and so far, his performances don’t warrant it.

In the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Ricciardo only finished ahead of Tsunoda in the race thanks to team orders.

Despite his struggles, Ricciardo is “staying optimistic”.

“The reason I’m staying optimistic is because I know that we had some things wrong,” he added. “With a good car and everything sorted, I know we can do a lot better. So painful three days, but I don’t want it to take any confidence out of us.

“Hasn’t been the start that we wanted, but it’s Race 2, and Melbourne’s next. So yeah, big push for everyone to get it right and we’ll have a good weekend. I’ll obviously put this weekend behind I think, just push the team hard.

“Already last night I stayed quite late to try and help everyone find the issues. Just up to me now to keep on ’em. I know they want it as bad as I do.

“So, make sure that we have a good package into Melbourne. My season will start there, and kick some ass.”