Daniel Ricciardo fires ‘not what I want’ statement after Visa Cash App RB launch

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Daniel Ricciardo has fired a firm statement on what the Australian does not want in 2024 after Visa Cash App RB launched their car for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

This year sees the Faenza squad adopt a new identify after Red Bull rebranded AlphaTauri as Visa Cash App RB. It is the start of the Italian outfit’s latest era as Ricciardo also gets back in a full-time race seat. He only enjoyed seven races in 2023 after making a mid-season return.

Ricciardo initially saw in the 2023 campaign as the reserve driver at Red Bull before getting a call to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri. But the 34-year-old’s return to F1 only lasted two rounds. He underwent surgery after breaking a bone in his hand in practice for the Dutch GP.

Daniel Ricciardo backs Visa Cash App RB to achieve ‘good things’

The operation ruled Ricciardo out of four weekends and handed Liam Lawson the chance to showcase his Grand Prix potential. But Red Bull saw enough for Ricciardo to sign a one-year deal to join Yuki Tsunoda from the beginning of the Visa Cash App RB journey in F1 for 2024.

Ricciardo stuck his AlphaTauri 13th on the grid at the Hungarian GP last July to return to the Formula 1 field. McLaren had axed the Perth native following the 2022 season having scored just 37 points. He would get six points in 2023 from one top 10 finish with P7 in Mexico City.

Daniel Ricciardo wants consistency over flash-in-the-pan success

Having that half-season under his belt has given Ricciardo plenty of confidence ahead of the 2024 F1 season with Visa Cash App RB. The eight-time Grand Prix winner believes the team can relish some ‘good things’ this year. But Ricciardo does not want flash-in-the-pan results.

“Coming into a full pre-season now, I have a lot of self-confidence in myself,” Ricciardo told RacingNews365. “So, I think some good things can happen.

“To get back on the podium, for sure, would be amazing. But if you say, ‘Oh you only have one podium this year and the rest are 10th places’, no. That is not what I want. I would rather a whole lot of top fives with no podium and just show consistency towards the front.

“That is what I really want, a bit like my second year at Renault – which people forget about now. That was a year I was really consistently in the top five, top six and a few podiums. And that is the level which I want to be able to produce again week-in, week-out.”

Ricciardo spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with Renault between his spells for Red Bull and McLaren. His first year racing for the Enstone outfit now running as Alpine only returned 54 points. But the Australian sealed fifth in the 2020 F1 drivers’ championship with 119 points.

The RS20 powered Ricciardo to two podiums with P3 results at the Eifel and Emilia Romagna GPs. He also enjoyed three P4 finishes plus two P5s, one P6, two P7s, two P8s, one P9 and a P10 through the 17 rounds of the Covid-19 disrupted 2020 Formula 1 campaign for Renault.