Amidst his struggles on the track, Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo is pursuing a change in chassis, hoping it might turn his fortunes around. Currently aiming to use the junior team, RB, as a stepping stone back into the premier ranks of Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo finds himself overshadowed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the 2024 season.
Ricciardo, 34, has openly admitted to pushing for this change as a proactive measure against a lingering suspicion that his performance dip might be rooted in a technical anomaly with his current chassis. This initiative, confirmed to Auto Motor und Sport by Ricciardo himself, comes from a place of determination to address even the minutest potential factors affecting his performance. “I initiated that,” he asserts, highlighting his proactive stance. “There are always small differences in the chassis. Before anyone tells me I’m crap, I wanted to at least get that sorted out,” Ricciardo explains, underscoring his commitment to ruling out all variables.
Alan Permane, the team’s racing director, however, expresses his doubts about the effectiveness of such a change, suggesting that swapping chassis rarely serves as a panacea in the world of Formula 1. “For me, a chassis is just a pile of carbon to which we attach the suspension, the engine, and the gearbox. It is unlikely that there will be any problems there that are affecting performance,” Permane elaborates, offering a technical perspective on the matter.
Despite typically resisting such requests from drivers to switch chassis, Permane acknowledges the timing aligns with the team’s plans to introduce a new monocoque for the Shanghai race. Thus, they’ve decided to accommodate Ricciardo’s request. “We don’t really want the drivers to jump back and forth between chassis. But we’re working on a new monocoque for Shanghai anyway. So it makes sense to give it to Daniel. Yuki is very happy with what he has,” he explains, indicating a strategic alignment with the team’s broader development goals. “It’s good for Daniel,” Permane concedes, “Then he can completely forget about whether there is a problem with the car.”
Permane also emphasizes the importance of focusing on refining the car’s setup to enhance performance, despite the inherent challenges. “When you make the car more comfortable to drive, you always have to be careful not to make the car slower at the same time,” he cautions. Permane advocates for a balanced approach: “In a perfect world, you first look for a setup that gives a driver confidence and then slowly you move it towards maximum performance. There is no reason why Daniel cannot drive our car in its fastest form,” he asserts, highlighting the potential for Ricciardo to excel under the right conditions.
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