34-year-old F1 driver now a ‘worrying amount’ slower than his teammate this season

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One race-winning driver is already trailing his teammate by a ‘worrying’ margin, F1 expert Mark Hughes has warned.

The paddock has reconvened in Australia, a fortnight on from the season-opening back-to-back in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

And Hughes, speaking on The Race F1 podcast, feels that one driver needs to start delivering this weekend.

After the first two events, there are seven drivers who lead their teammates two-nil in the qualifying head-to-head.

The first of those is Max Verstappen, who’s scored consecutive pole positions while Sergio Perez has twice missed out on the front row in the Red Bull.

George Russell has also had the edge on Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has continued his dominance over Lance Stroll.

Elsewhere, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda are looking to maintain perfect records in Melbourne.

Mark Hughes sends Yuki Tsunoda warning to Daniel Ricciardo

Hughes is concerned that experienced Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo can’t match Tsunoda, who’s 11 years his junior.

Ricciardo and Tsunoda are in their first full year together as teammates after the former replaced Nyck de Vries midway through last year.

The Japanese driver out-paced the ex-Red Bull man by just over a tenth in Bahrain, then left him behind in Saudi Arabia.

Tsunoda’s lap in Q2 was nearly half a second quicker than that of his teammate, and it earned him a spot in Q3 as Ricciardo crashed out in 14th.

Hughes said (37:30): “He’s how old now? 34. ‘Old dogs, new tricks’ comes to mind.

“Two races into the season, and Yuki’s definitely been the quicker driver, and by quite a worrying amount at the last race in Jeddah.

“It was around half a second in qualifying.”

Ricciardo already under fire as he heads to home race

Before the season started, Ricciardo looked a ‘dead-cert’ to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull in 2025.

But already, director Helmut Marko has warned him that he must find pace relative to Tsunoda.

Indeed, former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan fears Marko will replace him if he can’t improve his form.

Compatriot and F1 world champion Alan Jones has criticised him ahead of the race in Albert Park.

He believes that Ricciardo’s best days are behind him and Jones has urged him to stop blaming RB for his issues.

In response to those comments, Ricciardo insisted he doesn’t have anything to prove in front of his home fans.

He’s adamant that he’s been ‘helping’ RB to climb back up the grid after a disappointing 2023.

Ricciardo will be holding out hope of a Red Bull return and team principal Christian Horner may offer his backing.

Marko, on the other hand, is thought to be resistant to the idea of reuniting him with Verstappen.