‘Many more people’ now believe that £105k-a-week F1 driver is ‘over the hill’

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The 2024 Formula 1 season was unique as every driver retained their seat on the grid from the previous campaign.

However, it means that there are now 13 drivers attempting to convince their current employers – or potentially another team in the paddock – that they’re worth signing on for 2025 and beyond.

Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Michael Lamonato explained how the public views one key figure in the sport.

The likes of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso appear to be the two most exciting drivers who could be available for next year.

Then there’s the Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who appear to have drawn the short straw of driving the worst car on the grid at this point of the season.

However, Lamonato has explained that sections of the Australian public now think Daniel Ricciardo is ‘over the hill’.

The £105,000-a-week driver is another racer entering the last year of his deal and despite his dreams of ending his career with Red Bull, right now he’s in more danger of losing his place on the grid altogether.

Some Australian F1 fans starting to think that Daniel Ricciardo is now ‘over the hill’

There was an awful lot of positivity heading into the 2024 season for Daniel Ricciardo, with Ted Kravitz even suggesting he might challenge for podiums this season.

The newly-named Visa Cash App RB team arrived at pre-season testing full of hope that their closer partnership with champions Red Bull would see them close the gap between the bottom four teams and the rest of the midfield.

There were positive signs too, with Ricciardo topping a free practice session in Sakhir, but qualifying and the race itself were disappointing, to say the least.

Yuki Tsunoda was quicker throughout that weekend and the race in Saudi Arabia too and he had to be asked to move out of the way of the Australian much to the 23-year-old’s anger in Sakhir.

However, Ricciardo is now having to prove that he’s not over the hill and that he deserves his place on the Formula 1 grid.

He’s never had the best luck at his home race but a good performance in Melbourne would ease a lot of the pressure currently on him, with fellow Aussie Alan Jones questioning his current ability.

Ricciardo has something to prove at Australian Grand Prix

Asked if Daniel Ricciardo’s star has waned in Australia as Oscar Piastri’s has risen, Michael Lamonato said: “I’ve been surprised how much it seems to have waned in fact.

“It’s not just last year, but certainly the first two races of this year, there have been many more people, it’s sort of anecdotal, it’s responses to things we’ve been writing, but there are many more people willing to doubt Daniel Ricciardo.

“Which in the past would have been grounds for your citizenship to be revoked.

“The fact that people are so willing to be critical of Daniel Ricciardo is really interesting.

“There’s a definite change from even 12 months ago when people still felt he’d been hard done by McLaren.

“I’m seeing much less of that and much more of people willing to believe that he’s over the hill or past it.

“There are quite a few people who are big fans of Liam Lawson as an example and who think it’s Daniel who’s holding him up, which I guess to an extent he is.”

To suggest that Ricciardo is over the hill just two races in a 24-race campaign is very harsh.

He returned to F1 last season having had no pre-season testing and had to adapt to a new car as quickly as he possibly could.

Ricciardo then missed five races with a broken hand suffered in Zandvoort and his performance in Mexico City was a glimpse that his talent hasn’t suddenly disappeared.

Christian Horner is still a fan of Ricciardo being an option for in the main Red Bull team, but Helmut Marko is more unsure about the 34-year-old as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez should the Mexican’s contract not be extended.