Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Daniel Ricciardo claims first lap crash with Alex Albon a ‘singular moment’ despite disappointing 2024 start

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Aaryaman Roy Moulik | Last updated 4/7/24

Daniel Ricciardo has had an abysmal start to the 2024 F1 season. The driver has seemingly been beaten at every competitive session by VCARB teammate, Yuki Tsuonda. The eight-time Grand Prix winner’s bad run of performances continued as he tangled with Alex Albon during the initial few tussles at the Japanese Grand Prix. The duo collided going into turn three and proceeded to retire from the race.

After his outing ended early due to the crash, Daniel Ricciardo added how his incident with the Thai driver was something that was just a ‘singular moment’ of his season. Stating how he hasn’t lost hope, even after the disappointing start.

Daniel Ricciardo shared his thoughts after his crash during the Japanese GP.

Today is [a] singular moment. 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.
Daniel Ricciardo after the race in an interview with Motorsport

The 34-year-old has made it clear that the Japanese GP incident was one of the many troubles he has had so far in the ongoing season. Ricciardo is yet to score a single point in his VCARB 01.

Daniel Ricciardo reveals Japanese GP possibilities without his crash

The Japanese Grand Prix will be a what-if for VCARB driver, Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian missed FP1 after giving up his seat for rookie driver, Ayumu Iwasa. Even after this, the Australian was barely out-qualified by Yuki Tsunoda during Suzuka qualifying.

However, during the race, his chances of showing his potential were ruined by his collision with Albon. Following this, Ricciardo spoke about what he could’ve done had he not retired from the 53-lap Grand Prix.

Of course, [it] would have been nice to get a race under our belt and try to show a little bit of something that I felt we were starting to show yesterday. We’ll do that in China. I’m actually testing on Tuesday. So the laps that I missed today – I’ll get back on Tuesday.
Daniel Ricciardo said in the same interview

The Australian felt that there was potential to showcase better performance during the race. He concluded by saying that he is doing a tire test on Tuesday which will help him regain the laps he missed because of his early DNF. The Chinese Grand Prix could prove to be a make-or-break event for the Honey Badger for varied reasons.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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