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Ricciardo was the best placed of the two RBs in 15th with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda 19th at the chequered flag on Sunday.
It was a far cry from the performance the team hoped for, and expected, as it delivered a notable upgrade package.
Headlined by a new floor, it left Ricciardo and Tsunoda comfortable in the car but slow on the stopwatch.
The Spanish result came as a blow after the team had begun to build momentum with four consecutive points finishes in the events prior.
“Not only for us drivers, but the whole team, you feel this momentum, you feel this kind of energy and everyone gets this confidence,” Ricciardo said following the Spanish GP.
“Then out in Q1 yesterday and then today it’s like, we executed a good race, I really believe we did, and we got 15th.
“It’s these up and downs are part of it but of course the team feels that as well.
“That’s where we just have to, I think where it is a team sport, it’s not and individual sport.
“It’s not that you hug and comfort each other, but you bring each other together and you work and acknowledge that 15th is not fun. We want to be better.”
A veteran of 250 race entries (though he didn’t start the 2023 Dutch GP), Ricciardo doesn’t shy away from his part in pushing the team forward.
It’s a role he has fallen into since joining RB last season, where he’s become the team’s talisman.
“I’m definitely all in,” he said of his commitment to the operation.
“I am certainly putting everything into it to try and get everything out of it.”
Part of that relates to getting the best out of himself, as well as driving the team forward given the increased level of competition in the F1 midfield.
“With more data now, more onboards, more sims, the field is tighter,” he reasoned.
“I feel like every driver now in the same car, maybe 10 years ago there is – pulling this number out of my arse – maybe a second, where now it might be five tenths or something.
“A bad day, these days, pays much more of a price than I feel it used to. You just can’t afford to have a bad day.
“Probably for that you dig a little deeper, but from a technical side and feedback on that, I feel like I’m probably doing more than I ever have.
“I am super enthusiastic to go back to the treehouse [RB engineering suite] now and just get everyone together and try to understand everything that happened – not only in the race, but over the course of the weekend.”
