{"id":22726,"date":"2024-08-06T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T16:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=22726"},"modified":"2024-08-06T12:46:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T16:46:00","slug":"daniel-ricciardo-vcarb-isnt-a-junior-team-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/06\/daniel-ricciardo-vcarb-isnt-a-junior-team-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Ricciardo: VCARB &#8220;isn&#8217;t a junior team anymore&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Daniel Ricciardo is pleased with the change in direction at VCARB<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The last twelve months have seen significant change at VCARB, both from a performance and structural perspective. Unlike last season, the Faenza-based outfit is capable of fighting for points regularly, currently sitting 6th in the standings. Meanwhile, the team has been rebranded and changed its approach. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/28\/daniel-ricciardo-to-receive-career-defining-verdict\/\" target=\"_self\">Daniel Ricciardo<\/a>, VCARB is no longer a junior team.<\/p>\n<p>Historically, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?s=red+bull\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> are known for their ruthlessness when making driver swaps.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/02\/albon-calls-on-williams-to-reverse-development-slump\/\" target=\"_self\">Alex Albon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/02\/pierre-gasly-critical-of-alpine-not-good-enough\/\" target=\"_self\">Pierre Gasly<\/a> are among the many drivers who were abruptly replaced by the Austrian team.<\/p>\n<p>However, Red Bull are now operating very differently compared to the past.<\/p>\n<p>For example, despite struggling to perform (and even receiving harsh criticism from <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/10\/08\/horner-perez-red-bull-racing\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner<\/a> and Helmut Marko), Sergio Perez remains in the team.<\/p>\n<p>The reigning Champions are also happy to keep Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB &#8211; even at the expense of young talent like <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/01\/liam-lawsons-red-bull-future-in-doubt\/\" target=\"_self\">Liam Lawson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As ever, the decisions at squad based in Milton Keynes are a source of immense controversy.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"gJUDRncYQ35_5F37zEPDDA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2164070576\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gJUDRncYQ35_5F37zEPDDA',sig:'KMAGOc1UBXr9fkfVIr005IMUGmmfCQPsRdPi76Q8WNo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2164070576',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ricciardo supports the new team dynamic\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>With that said, for Daniel Ricciardo, the changes in the team have been for the better:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It does feel different, and I think it&#8217;s easy to kind of rebrand it and say we\u2019ve got a new look and with this and that.\u00a0 B<\/em><em>ut your actions have to follow.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;And I think Laurent [Mekies], Peter [Bayer], Alan [Permane], a lot of guys that have come in have done that.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s not that what was happening in the past with Franz, in that example, wasn&#8217;t the right thing. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But a change sometimes is good.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou bring in new ideas. They&#8217;ve all spent time in other teams, organisations. And yeah, it&#8217;s just a new way of looking at things.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I think that in itself, and their intentions and the way they go about it, has made people kind of stand up and say &#8211; alright, this isn&#8217;t a junior team anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We&#8217;re making, kind of, big boy decisions.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"3tputOFoQdBfDvNGKkwufw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2164074323\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'3tputOFoQdBfDvNGKkwufw',sig:'8HU8K3CXA5RC1eu083YiiqCPrDJqyzu4xBz_yys1GX4=',w:'594px',h:'376px',items:'2164074323',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Red Bull must take big decisions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>At face value, there are plenty of positives to say about VCARB&#8217;s performance this season.<\/p>\n<p>They are sitting 6th in the Championship and near the front of the midfield.<\/p>\n<p>Should they maintain this position, it would be one of their best-ever F1 campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/26\/daniel-ricciardo-in-talks-over-red-bull-future-quite-a-lot\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> ties, the Racing Bulls can be pleased with their season. Tsunoda and Ricciardo have contributed well to their points tally.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the situation is more complex for the team led by Laurent Mekies.<\/p>\n<p>As Red Bull&#8217;s second team, VCARB&#8217;s drivers are inevitably judged by whether they can strengthen the main team.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"ePsvcdQNQfJQW4G2jRDWRQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2164044557\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ePsvcdQNQfJQW4G2jRDWRQ',sig:'FcQXA-7IvgdxhECceV70Xke1RTFwcl7GfSeV3jJdl9o=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2164044557',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the context of Perez&#8217;s 2024 results, the choice to keep Tsunoda and Ricciardo in the second team raises big questions.<\/p>\n<p>A driver change seemed inevitable just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the summer break, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/11\/sergio-perez-at-risk-of-losing-seat-confirms-helmut-marko\/\" target=\"_self\">Helmut Marko<\/a> emphasised that VCARB was a junior team.<\/p>\n<p>These comments coincided with Christian Horner&#8217;s positive comments about Ricciardo after the Belgian GP.<\/p>\n<p>However, in almost traditional fashion, there was another surprise in store at Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n<p>With the future so uncertain, Daniel Ricciardo and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/25\/tsunoda-i-dont-know-if-red-bull-are-considering-me\/\" target=\"_self\">Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> will strive to optimise their performances and improve their favorability &#8211; before the cards fall once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Ricciardo is pleased with the change in direction at VCARB The last twelve months have seen significant change at VCARB, both from a performance and structural perspective. Unlike last season, the Faenza-based outfit is capable of fighting for points regularly, currently sitting 6th in the standings. Meanwhile, the team has been rebranded and changed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":19660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2220,77,68,2246],"class_list":["post-22726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-daniel-ricciardo","tag-f1","tag-vcarb"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}