“That’s the reality”: Laurent Mekies acknowledges collective shortcomings in Daniel Ricciardo’s final season with the Red Bull brand

Visa Cash App RB team principal Laurent Mekies admitted that the team did not provide former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo consistent opportunities to showcase his true potential in the 2024 season. The Faenza-based outfit dropped the former Red Bull driver at the end of the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix in place of Kiwi driver Liam Lawson.

Apart from some eye-catching performances in Miami and Canada, Daniel Ricciardo struggled to find his best form in the VCARB01 consistently alongside his teammate Yuki Tsunoda and could only manage 12 points from the 18 races and three Sprints he started in 2024.

Speaking with Autosport in an exclusive this week, Mekies discussed the eight-time race winner's performances this season and said:

"The question we have been asked the most was: 'Can Daniel still produce the ultimate speed we have seen?' I think he has on a few occasions, in Miami, in Canada [fifth place in qualifying], and in quite a few other races. But for the team, as for the drivers, the biggest difficulty is not to be fast one day."

Revealing that the team perhaps didn't offer the Australian 'enough' opportunities to compete for the top positions, Mekies added:

"It's to be fast in every race. Did we manage to keep Daniel in that sweet spot often enough? No, that's the reality. I raised my hand and we raised our hands as a team because we have a big part to play in it. And this led to what happened."

The Aussie driver joined the junior Red Bull team in Hungary in 2023 when he replaced Nyck de Vries. He kept his place for the 2024 season despite breaking his hand in his third race back in Zandvoort last year.

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Racing Bulls team boss praises former charge Daniel Ricciardo for his 'technical' contribution

While acknowledging the collective shortcoming in helping the Australian perform better, Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies said that Daniel Ricciardo played a "huge role" in the team's development. The 35-year-old offered solid technical feedback and helped the team in the direction of development for the car.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, the Frenchman said:

"There was a huge benefit for the team and for Yuki in terms of Daniel's technical feedback, direction of development, race-winning approach. Having somebody who knows how it is in a team that wins races, and fights for championships, is setting the benchmark and that counts a lot at a time when you are trying to build the team and target better results."

Mekies also believed that Ricciardo shared a good relationship with Yuki Tsunoda, and the latter was able to 'absorb' some of the knowledge from the Australian and improve his driving as well.

Daniel Ricciardo's replacement Liam Lawson got a promotion to Red Bull for the 2025 season to race alongside Max Verstappen. This came after Lawson had raced in a total of 11 races during his two stints replacing the Aussie driver in 2023 and 2024.