Following a poor start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, Daniel Ricciardo, the current #2 for the Visa Cash App RB team, is coming under fire from all sides of the F1 community. The latest expert to criticize the Aussie for his disappointing runs this season is Alan Jones.
However, recently, Daniel Ricciardo has finally come out with a ‘surprising’ 3-word reply for Alan Jones, right before the 2024 Australian GP.
Daniel Ricciardo rejects Alan Jones comments
In an interview with Herald Sun, Alan Jones, who became a F1 champion in 1980, has publicly claimed that his fellow Aussie native, Daniel Ricciardo, has already “seen his best days” in Formula 1, which is crystal-clear in his poor form since the past few seasons.
During the interview, Jones was asked whether the sport has already seen the best of Ricciardo; he replied, “I hate to say it, but I think we have seen the best days (from Ricciardo).”
“I would love him to become super competitive and be up there challenging in the points, but I just think that maybe a couple of things have got to change before we see that,” he concluded.
Just a few days before the FP session of the Aussie GP, Daniel Ricciardo replied to Jones’ ‘harsh’ remarks in a quick media session with 10 News First at the Perth Airport.
In the interview, the 34-year-old was asked about his opinion of his native senior’s claims of him being ‘past his best’. The Aussie ‘Racing Bull’ was seen pausing for a while and smiling broadly, right before flat-out rejecting the claims.
“Not at all,” Ricciardo uttered this ‘three-word, one-liner’, before running off to board his plane to Melbourne for this weekend’s Australian GP.
These ‘harsh-but-true’ words from Alan Jones come at a time when Ricciardo is having a poor start to the 2024 F1 season, driving for the ‘AlphaTauri-rebranded’ Visa Cash App RB team.
Daniel Ricciardo discusses his tough phase
In another interview with The Age, Daniel Ricciardo, who is in his thirteenth F1 season with VCARB, revealed his personal insights about the ‘tough phases’ of his career, which lasted from 2019 to 2022.
Reflecting on his ’22 stint with McLaren, he stated, “Seb got the big goodbye he completely deserved, but I didn’t know at that stage if 2022 was the end or not for me too.”
“At that moment it wasn’t something I cared too much about, mostly because I didn’t like the way my career had ended if that was it.”
“From that mid-point of 2022 when I basically didn’t have a job and was unsure what I was going to do, I was almost wishing the races away, wanting the season to be done with,” he admitted.
“I found it hard to be very present in that time. I had to fight to actually enjoy the job.
“Coming back last year, I found that I wasn’t thinking about anything else because I was truly happy doing what I was doing,” he further added.
“I was in love with the sport again, with driving and competing. In 2022, I struggled with that and just wanted it to be over,” he concluded, expressing his passion for the sport.
As for now, Daniel Ricciardo will now take on the Melbourne GP circuit on March 24 at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Is Jones really right about Ricciardo being past his best in Formula 1? If not, can Ricciardo bring out his best this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
