Marc Priestley suggests time is ‘running out’ for 34-year-old to save his Formula 1 career

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Marc Priestley has suggested that time is already running out for Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo to save his Formula 1 career.

The experienced Australian has enjoyed a far-from-straightforward start to the 2024 season.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Priestley believes that decisions he made earlier in his career have cost him the chance to cement his legacy as a world-class driver in the sport.

Priestley thinks Ricciardo is running out of time to save his F1 career

Daniel Ricciardo may not have expected to have been handed a lifeline in Formula 1 last season when he was parachuted in to replace Nyck de Vries.

The AlphaTauri was the slowest car on the grid at the time, but his inability to consistently challenge Yuki Tsunoda was becoming a problem.

This allowed the popular Ricciardo to return to the grid, albeit with a five-race hiatus after breaking his hand in Zandvoort.

His display in Mexico City was the highlight of that year, but more was expected of him in 2024 after a full pre-season to prepare.

Instead, he’s been overshadowed by Tsunoda and had to be allowed through by his team in Bahrain otherwise the Japanese driver would have finished ahead of him.

Ricciardo has gone from dreaming of finishing his career at Red Bull to hoping it will survive beyond 2024 which is what Priestley is worried about.

A good performance in his home Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend will help ease the pressure.

Ricciardo needs to up his game quickly to survive

Speaking about the 34-year-old, Priestley said: “Daniel Ricciardo, at the other end of his career [to Alex Albon], he’s getting a hurry up from Helmut Marko, he’s getting the world starting to talk about him in terms of questioning him.

“Is he really what everyone thought he was? Is it the excitement we thought it was going to be when he came back into the sport?

“He’s not beating his teammate consistently enough and that is the very first step to becoming a legendary driver in Formula 1. You have to beat your teammate.

“He’s not doing that enough and I think for exactly the same reasons I just talked about with young drivers poking their heads up and saying, ‘Look at me’, Daniel Ricciardo has got time running out on his Formula 1 career.

“It’s a shame because I think he’s a great guy, a great character in the sport and has been a great driver but he seems to have made some poor decisions that have cost him dearly over the course of the last few years.

“And I wonder if we might be seeing the last of him in 2024.”

Ricciardo will be well aware of the issues Priestley raises and as he has seen before, Helmut Marko is ruthless when it comes to bringing a driver’s career to an end.

Liam Lawson is the driver looming in the background at every race right now and that additional pressure will either help Ricciardo and Tsunoda succeed or see them lose their place on the grid.

While Ricciardo is unlikely to lose his seat in the coming races, the Red Bull group don’t hang about if they think a change is needed.