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The end goal is a return to Red Bull Racing and podium results – if not race wins – but with the acknowledgement that it may never happen.
It is, however, a stretch goal and, as such, there are hurdles along the road back to Milton Keynes that must be cleared.
A key one of those is Ricciardo beating his RB team-mate consistently. But so far in 2024, that has not happened.
Instead, a clumsy spin in Saudi Arabia following a less-than-spectacular qualifying session left the eight-time race winner facing questions about his future.
Red Bull motorsport advisor, Dr Helmut Marko, fuelled those flames with his post-Jeddah column in SpeedWeek where he stated, “Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”
Bahrain was hardly any better, though Ricciardo did technically beat Yuki Tsunoda – a result of team orders, much to the Japanese driver’s chagrin.
And so, just two races in to the 2024 season, and discussion over Ricciardo’s future has begin.
“No, not really,” he told Speedcafe when asked if the slow start to the year had left him under more pressure.
The 34-year-old has acknowledged the comments made by Marko, and even 1980 world champion Alan Jones, but has dismissed them as part of the noise associated with racing in Formula 1.
Ricciardo is his own harshest critic and argues comments from others are no worse than what he’s gone through in his own mind.
Heading into his home grand prix this weekend, while there is pressure to perform, he’s not putting an additional weight on his own shoulders.
“I’ve put enough [pressure] on myself,” he explained.
“You don’t want it then to be counterproductive.
“Obviously I want to have a good weekend and I’m like, well, what better place than to do it than at home?
“So I’m using it as a… yeah. After Saudi I was a bit like ‘grrr’, and then we were in the sim, and it was productive, but we felt like it was just… I wanted to race again.
“Even now, like it’s the end of Thursday, and I’m starting to feel, alright, what have I got? Maybe 18 hours til I’m in the car? Just feels really good.”
That enthusiasm is clear and was notably absent during his time at McLaren.
Back then, Ricciardo was routinely confronted with questions about his shortcomings, failings, and lack of progress.
Inevitably it wore him down, and, by the end of his time in Woking, he began to simply go through the motions as his love for the sport dwindled.
Thus far, that hasn’t been the case at RB.
He acknowledges the issues he’s faced and his part in them but continues to look forward with positivity rather than dread.
“My excitement and hunger to just drive and do what I know I can do, that’s as high as it’s ever been,” he admitted.
“So I’m not putting pressure on myself. I’m just… I’m antsy. I want to go and prove it to myself and just get the season going.
“Obviously, it’s been a little bit of a slow start, but I don’t want to blow up. It’s not panic mode; it’s not some crazy crisis thing. It’s two races.
“I know every race is important, but it’s two in 24. I know that one good weekend, and that we will have here, will change all that.”
