‘He’s had chances’ – Worrying verdict issued on Daniel Ricciardo amid mentality concerns

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo’s crisis of confidence is preventing him from delivering 100 percent of his talent, according to Thierry Boutsen.

The Australian is yet to get off the mark in F1 2024 and appears to be struggling with his full-time return after securing a seat with RB following his reserve duties role last season.

Daniel Ricciardo’s mentality ‘not as strong as it was’

Ricciardo’s struggles in F1 stem back to 2021 when at McLaren, alongside Lando Norris, the Australian appeared to be unable to extract the best out of himself in a way he had been able to while at Red Bull and Renault.

While Ricciardo took a famous win at Monza that season, Norris usually had the measure of him and, by the end of ’22, McLaren opted to buy Ricciardo out of the third year of his contract in order to bring in the rookie Oscar Piastri.

Without a seat for F1 2023, Red Bull took him back in a reserve role for their two teams and, due to Nyck de Vries disappointing performances and Ricciardo’s strong showing in a Pirelli tyre test, handed the eight-time Grand Prix winner a full-time race seat at RB – formerly AlphaTauri – for F1 2024.

But Ricciardo’s form has largely continued in the same vein. Yuki Tsunoda has had the legs on him throughout the season so far and, while the Japanese driver has scored seven points in the last two races, Ricciardo finished 12th in Australia after a Q1 exit, followed by a first-lap retirement in Japan following a racing incident.

Three-time Grand Prix victor and Le Mans winner Thierry Boutsen, speaking in a far-reaching interview with PlanetF1.com said he suspects Ricciardo is struggling to bring out the best in himself due to his dip in confidence.

“If you’re driving in Formula 1, you have to give 100 percent of yourself all the time,” Boutsen told PlanetF1.com.

“If you’re affected by confidence, affected by a physical problem, affected by anything, you’re not doing a good job.

“You can see today, that he is making mistakes and is not as quick as he should and what he has been in the past.

“That means that his mental[ity] is not as strong as it was when he was winning races in the past.

“So it’s a very difficult situation – when the mental takes over the rest, the performance goes away and then the mistakes can come.

“Then, the more mistakes come, the more you lose your confidence. It’s a situation that is very difficult to come out of, it’s a mental thing. It’s also part of his mental preparation that there may be something missing there.”

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Thierry Boutsen: It’s sad to see Daniel Ricciardo in this position

Boutsen said, in his mind, Ricciardo’s talent hasn’t diminished, but there is something preventing him from accessing it. Asked whether he believes the Australian is strong enough to come out the other side of his current travails, Boutsen said he’s being given every opportunity to showcase his abilities.

“I wish him all the best,” he said.

“He’s shown, for the last few years, he’s had chances. When he was at McLaren, and even today, he’s got a good car. He’s got a car that should allow him to perform and make some sparkling moments. But he doesn’t do that.

“So it’s very sad to see him in this position. I think his talent is there, that’s for sure. He’s proven it in the past. But he’s not capable of using it, because something else is pushing him down.”

Boutsen, who has experience as a team founder and manager in racing categories such as Formula Renault and ELMS, said he couldn’t say whether or not Red Bull might lose patience with the man who has enjoyed tremendous highs while racing for their senior team.

“It’s very difficult to say because I’m not an insider,” he said.

“I don’t know what’s going on from the outside. If I was the team manager and trying to make my team win, I would like to have drivers who have no psychological problems, and no pressure – they’re just there to win and to do everything to win.

“You need to put everything to the side and just concentrate on one thing. If you have some kind of problem, somehow, you don’t give 100 percent. That’s not what is needed in Formula 1. You don’t deserve your seat if it’s like this.”