Ricciardo has been out-performed by RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in all four races of the current season – allowing for team orders in Bahrain.
That has left the 34-year-old under pressure and even prompted unfounded speculation that he could be dumped from the team before the summer break.
While RB, Red Bull, and Ricciardo’s management have categorically denied those claims, it is a natural consequence of a difficult start to the year.
It has also prompted F1 winner Thierry Boutsen to question the Australian’s mental resilience and preparation.
“If you’re driving in Formula 1, you have to give 100 percent of yourself all the time,” Boutsen, who won the 1989 Australian Grand Prix, told PlanetF1.
“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.”
It’s not all been doom and gloom for Ricciardo, who has shown positive signs despite being unable to convert that into a race result.
In Australia, a qualifying lap was deleted for track limits, and he started out of position at the back of the grid as a result, compromising his race performance.
Two weeks later, he crashed out on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix despite having qualified just 0.056s shy of Tsunoda.
Those two events followed a dismal Saudi Arabian weekend where he was unable to deliver in qualifying before suffering a clumsy spin on the penultimate lap.
In response, RB has replaced a number of components on his car and, for China next weekend, will give the eight-time race winner a new tub.
While that is not expected to be a golden bullet, it is an attempt by the team to eliminate another variable and rebuild Ricciardo’s confidence.
“I wish him all the best,” Boutsen 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.
“It’s very difficult to say because I’m not an insider,” added the Belgian.
“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.”
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