F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo Addresses Yuki Tsunoda's Downgrade Frustrations

Daniel Ricciardo is set to test new upgrades for the VCARB01 F1 car at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, following teammate Yuki Tsunoda's disappointing experience with the modifications at Monza.

Tsunoda expressed frustration after the upgrades seemed to slow down the car, leading him to question their effectiveness.

He told the media :

“I came into the weekend with high expectations with this upgrade, and it didn’t seem to work, so I hope it is not a downgrade.

“We just didn’t have the pace and the limitations around the lap [compared to Ricciardo] are kind of similar.

“Whatever I do is just exaggerating limitations and I just keep sliding so it sucks but it is pretty hard to catch up.

“If you see the numbers [on the simulator], I should gain some lap time, but it is not even close to that and pretty far off from what we wanted for sure.”

Tsunoda's recent performances have struggled, with several races ending outside the points.

After the team introduced upgrades in Spain, they faced unexpected issues that forced a retreat from those changes.

At Monza, Tsunoda was unable to advance past Q1, and despite not finishing the race, he assessed the new parts and shared his concerns about their impact on performance.

Ricciardo, who raced the previous version of the VCARB01 at Monza, plans to give the upgrades a shot in Baku.

Ricciardo told the media :

“Unless the team see some strong negatives, the plan is to still run them in Baku.

“I think sometimes what you can’t predict is on track, it might produce more load, but maybe it shifts the balance and setting up the car is trickier.

“Maybe that is what we just didn’t get quite right to exploit all of the grip, but it is hard for me to speak on.

“I want to believe it can still be good, because obviously the last one wasn’t too good for us.

“I’d like to think this one is better but obviously only Yuki has the experience with it and he was vocal about having a tough weekend, so we will see.

“It is something I would definitely like to try and give at least a session and have a feel for it before maybe saying it is not the one.”

He then added:

“We obviously have reason to believe it is better, but I haven’t driven it, so I can’t say if it is better or not, but it has been tricky.

“I think a combination of low downforce and a new asphalt [at Monza] means it is quite peaky to find the grip and put laps together.”

As the team prepares for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ricciardo is eager to try the upgrades and see how they perform in real racing conditions.