Ricciardo addresses DAMNING team-mate criticism

Daniel Ricciardo has spoken out following harsh criticism made by his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

It's been a disappointing campaign for the Visa Cash App RB duo, with the team currently sixth in the Formula 1 constructors' championship.

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Tsunoda has performed the better of the two, outscoring his more experienced colleague by 10 points so far, resulting in the Japanese driver agreeing a new deal with the team.

Ricciardo's future, however, looks far from certain, with speculation persisting that he could be set to lose his seat for 2025.

Ricciardo retains belief

Having joined the team midway through last season, the Australian has struggled to live up to lofty expectations, and with his contract expiring at the end of this year, is facing a fight to remain in the sport.

Ricciardo once again finished outside the points at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix, while Tsunoda endured a miserable weekend after following up his Q1 elimination with an early exit in Sunday's main event.

The results came as a surprise to the team having introduced a number of upgrades for the Monza showpiece.

Tsunoda slammed the performance of the car post-race, stating that there was a significant discrepancy between what he had experienced in the simulator and what he saw on-track.

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Now, Ricciardo has addressed that stinging criticism, admitting that while he has sympathy for his team-mate, he is hopeful that there will be an improvement in Baku this weekend.

“Unless the team see some strong negatives, the plan is to still run them in Baku," he said.

“I think sometimes what you can’t predict is on track, it might produce more load, but maybe it shifts the balance and setting up the car is trickier.

“Maybe that is what we just didn’t get quite right to exploit all of the grip, but it is hard for me to speak on.

"I want to believe it can still be good, because obviously the last one wasn’t too good for us.

“I’d like to think this one is better but obviously only Yuki has the experience with it and he was vocal about having a tough weekend, so we will see.

“It is something I would definitely like to try and give at least a session and have a feel for it before maybe saying it is not the one.”

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