Daniel Ricciardo's performances under scrutiny as F1 pundit remarks: "He is going to be replaced and he can understand why"

Daniel Ricciardo's performances at the start of the season are already under scrutiny as F1 pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan remarks that the Australian could lose his seat if he doesn't improve. The start of the season has not been the best one for Daniel.

In the first race of the season, he was out-qualified by Yuki Tsunoda. While he did finish the race in front of his teammate, team orders played a role in that. The second race of the season in Jeddah was much worse, as Daniel Ricciardo was once again out-qualified comprehensively and had an even worse race, with only Bottas and Guanyu finishing behind him.

Talking about Daniel Ricciardo on the Formula For Success podcast, Eddie Jordan felt that while the Australian was just perfect for any team in terms of marketing, if he didn't produce the results, he would be replaced. Jordan said,

“I don’t think there is a more loved personality in Formula 1, certainly got the best smile that I’ve ever seen in Formula 1. He is a magic guy to have in a team. But you know, that doesn’t give you the right to be the driver in the team. I’m just worried that the end of McLaren era was really something that stood out and I couldn’t see where he’d lost it."

He added,

"There has been nothing since then that convinces me that I would want to invest my hard-earned sponsorship cash to keep Daniel. He needs a result more than anyone perhaps, and he needs to get it together. Because otherwise he is going to be replaced and he can understand why he would be replaced because the performance is just not there."

Daniel Ricciardo gets a wake-up call from Helmut Marko

Daniel Ricciardo also got a wake-up call from Helmut Marko after the weekend in Jeddah. The Austrian in an interview with Speedweek, touched on how the Red Bull sister team was doing and felt that while Yuki Tsunoda was brilliant in qualifying in Jeddah, the Australian needs to find something soon. He said,

“A word about the Racing Bulls. There’s a lot at stake this season for both Yuki and Daniel. Yuki’s qualifying performance was very good and Ricciardo has to come up with something soon.”

Daniel has not had the best start to the 2024 F1 season. The next race is going to be his home race in Australia, and he would be looking to set the cat amongst the pigeons and get his campaign on the road.