Daniel Ricciardo responds to Japanese Grand Prix crash as Liam Lawson waits in the wings

Daniel Ricciardo has dismissed the latest calamity in his dismal Formula One season as “just one of those things”, adamant his first-lap crash at the Japanese Grand Prix wasn’t down to him being a driver under pressure.

Ricciardo, 34, has been outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in all four races to start 2024, as Kiwi hopeful Liam Lawson waits in the wings if and when Red Bull decide to make a change.

Last month, the Herald reported Ricciardo was under increasing pressure to retain his seat with Racing Bulls (RB), with Red Bull head of driver development Dr Helmut Marko eager to see Lawson behind the wheel at some point this year.

The Australian RB pilot’s collision with Alex Albon’s Williams less than half a minute into Sunday’s Suzuka race was investigated by the stewards, with both eventually being cleared over the incident that left them hitting the barriers, but fortunately emerging unscathed.

But old Ricciardo was insistent it wasn’t another symptom of his struggles over a season in which he has been outdriven by his teammate and is yet to score a point.

“I don’t look at today and think ‘oh, man this year’, like when it rains, it pours, or whatever. I feel it was just one of those things,” Ricciardo shrugged afterwards.

“We know that across 24 races, it’s likely that maybe I’m involved in another lap-one incident, there’s just probability that these things kind of happen.

“It obviously sucks when they do, but I don’t look at it any more than today being a kind of singular incident.”

Nonetheless, an early retirement to go with his 13th, 16th and 12th place finishes in the first three races represents a terrible start to what shapes as a pivotal season for Ricciardo.

In yet another race won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Tsunoda went on to finish 10th in front of his home fans and has now gathered all seven of RB’s points in the championship this season.

Ricciardo, in contrast, is increasingly under pressure to show he is not a fading force after his previous underwhelming stint at McLaren.

In the incident, Ricciardo’s attention seemed to be on the threat of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll as he edged into Albon’s space and the two cars collided, spinning off the track and leading to the race being red-flagged.

On the radio, Albon said “he just squeezed me, I had nowhere to go”, but stewards accepted it was only a racing incident.

However, Ricciardo’s efforts on Saturday should not be ignored.

As his Friday practice opportunities were wiped – first by Red Bull giving a session to Japanese hopeful Ayumu Iwasa, and then by rain – Ricciardo still qualified 11th, just one position shy of Tsunoda.

Those efforts earned praise from Racing Bulls technical director Jodie Egginton, who seemed to back the Australian into the foreseeable future.

“Unfortunately, Daniel’s race never got going with his first lap incident putting him out of the race,” he said.

“However, even with no dry running on Friday, he has put together a solid Saturday qualifying, and we are confident we can continue to build on this in the coming events.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission