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It proved a positive step for the Australian, who delivered his best grand prix qualifying result of the season in Montreal, followed by his best race result.
Ricciardo has been battling inconsistency throughout 2024 and has been out-qualified by his RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda seven times in nine races.
Last Saturday was not one of those occasions as Ricciardo recorded the fifth best time, a result delivered just minutes after the team confirmed Tsunoda for 2025.
Playing a part in that performance, the 34-year-old reasons, was a frank discussion with his team following the disappointment of Monaco.
“We’re pretty open with each other but I wanted to make sure that there was nothing that they saw that they needed to unload,” he explained.
“I just basically wanted to know like, ‘what do you guys think is going wrong? Tell me if there’s something you see from me and I want to try and fix it. But I’ll also tell you guys what I feel and maybe why I do feel a little bit flat, or maybe the schedule’s a bit too much at the moment, or whatever’.
“We just had a very open chat, and it was great because I also want to give them comfort to tell me straight.
“I’m nearly 35, I don’t need to have any more pats on the back. I’d rather people just be very direct with me.
“I felt like it was just productive and that continued through the week after.”
The change was prompted by the disappointment of Monaco, where hopes were high early in the weekend before Ricciardo was unable to deliver in the all-important qualifying session.
“After Monaco, because it was a weekend where I was a bit down probably emotionally after not doing well on a track that I love, basically everyone around me – the team, engineers, my inner circle as well – just like, ‘guys, open book, constructive criticism, where do you feel I’m maybe missing something?’.
“A lot of it was just probably management, like energy management, over the course of the weekend.
“It’s not even what I’m doing in the car, it’s just what gets me into the car feeling like I’m f***ing ready to go.
“So just trying to clean up some of those things, and if there was anything on my mind, just to get it off my chest.”
That resulted in him arriving in Canada, by his own admission, feeling “hungry and happy and ready to say f*** you.”
Eighth in Montreal was Ricciardo’s first points-scoring result since he finished seventh in the Mexico City Grand Prix, and ended an 11-race run of results outside the top 10, a streak only equalled by his first 11 races in F1 for HRT in 2011.
