David Croft says eight-win driver endured ‘frustrating’ Saudi Arabian GP

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Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo didn’t ‘make an impression’ at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, David Croft says.

Ricciardo came home in 16th place in Jeddah, one spot behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

And Sky Sports F1 commentator Croft bemoaned a race to forget for the Australian driver.

Tsunoda also won the battle between the two drivers in qualifying, reaching Q3 and taking ninth place after Ricciardo (14th) had bowed out in Q2.

In the race, the eight-time Grand Prix winner was only able to beat the Stake F1 Team duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, who tumbled down the order after a pit-stop issue late in the race.

But for Lance Stroll’s accident in the Aston Martin, he may have finished even further down the order.

Ricciardo sits 16th in the championship after two races by virtue of his 12th-place finish at the season-opener in Bahrain.

David Croft laments poor Daniel Ricciardo showing

Speaking shortly before the end of the race, Croft said that Ricciardo had been largely anonymous.

The 34-year-old is starting his first full season back at Red Bull’s junior team after replacing Nyck de Vries midway through last year.

“Another frustrating night for Daniel Ricciardo,” Croft said on lap 49 out of 50. “He’s not managed to make an impression.”

Ricciardo told he must beat Tsunoda

Ricciardo will be especially disappointed by his performance in round two after receiving an upgrade package from RB before the race.

Team principal Laurent Mekies has said that he’s seeing the ‘best’ version of the 241-race driver despite his earlier woes at McLaren.

Ricciardo may hope to earn a return to Red Bull but to do that, Karun Chandhok says he’ll have to beat Tsunoda on a consistent basis.

Chandhok doesn’t think that the Japanese driver is in contention for a seat with the top team, which puts all the onus on his experienced partner.