Crucial reason pinpointed for Daniel Ricciardo’s cruel F1 decline
New theory may explain Dani𓂃el Ricciardo's do💙wnfall in competitiveness

Daniel Ricciardo’s inability to cope with the latest generation of Formula 1 car has been cited as a major reason foꦺr his downfall.
R💮ed Bull will replace Ricciardo at RB, their sister team, with Liam Lawson with immediate effect.
Ricciardo bid a teaꦦrful farewell to F1 last weekend in Singapore, which now looks set to be hiﷺs final grand prix.
“The cars that he drove so unbelievably well were a different philosophy of car,” said journalist Sam Power from Australiaꦓ’s Channel 10 on the F1 Nation podcast.
“The 2022 regs that came inꦗ are incredibly stiffly sprung, a very🔯 flat floor.
“Previously he was used to anꦗ Adrian Newey car which was high rake, quite a lot of r꧙oll. Very different.
“We h✨ave often heard about him trying to adapt his driving style.
“I’dꩲ hazard a guess that it’s a mismatch to the 2022 cars and their general phi♊losophy, more than anything.”
Ricciardo’s pomജp at Red Bull was never relived in stints at Renault, McLaren and AlphaTauri/RB.
He originally lost hiꦗs F1 drive when McLaren ditched him but missed only half-a-season before Red Bull rescued his career and threw him into their AlphaTauri seat.
Ricciardo initially impressed but an injury a﷽llowed Lawson to briefly💝 deputise - and show the world his obvious potential.
🦂“Wha✨t hurts him the most? It feels like he’s always been up against it, against the run of play,” reporter Lawrence Barretto said.
“He hurt his hand in Zandvoort last year when he’d ♔barely got started. He missed a load of races. The guy who will potentially replace him is the guy who did such a great job [replacing Ricciardo when he was injured last year].
“He started this year when the car, for whatever reason,ꦿ was not at🐻 his comfort level but was competitive.
“Yuki Tsunoda scooped up⭕ a load of points. Then when [Ricciardo] turned it around, the car went the other way. He got 11ths and 12ths which are good, solid performance𝐆s but they aren’t points so they don’t seem impressive.
“It seems unfortu🅠nate that his form has turned around at a time when the car hasn’t been up there.
“Even [in Singapore] Yuki didn’t score points. So you could argue the car still wasn’t capable of sc🔯oring, and he did the best he could do from where he started.
“He hasn🦩’t had the rub of the green🌊. But many drivers in Formula 1 will leave their careers and say that.
“T🦋hat’s what will take him the longest to get over - that he never had the right circumstances.
“Right up ꩵuntil the August break, Red Bull wanted him to replace Perez. They even had a chat about it.
“🎃What on earth has changed in four races to make them flip the other wayﷺ?
“I think in that set-up, with the amount of people he’d know, in a works operation that can fix things quickly, identify problems quicker, h𝓀e felt t🦄hat. And I think Christian Horner felt that, that’s why he backed him so hard.
“He will always feel a little unfulfilled.”

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering eve⛄rything from American sports, to foᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚotball, to F1.