Ricciardo makes 'it factor' claim despite F1 future doubt

Daniel Ricciardo is confident he has shown this season he still possesses 'the it factor' in F1 even though his position with RB for next season has yet to be secured.

Ricciardo started the year with the aim of ousting Sergio Perez from his seat and returning to Red Bull for next term.

The Australian, however, suffered a miserable start to the campaign, with his only points over the first eight grands prix weekends coming via a fine fourth place in the Miami sprint.

Ricciardo even suffered the ignominy of seeing RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda confirmed for next season in early June. A day later, the 35-year-old finally secured a top-10 grand prix finish with eighth in Canada.

Ricciardo has also scored points in Austria and Belgium to leave him 13th in the drivers' standings, one place and 10 points behind Tsunoda going into F1's summer break but unsure whether he will be on the grid in 2025, like the Japanese.

Assessing the first 'half' of the season after 14 races, with 10 remaining, speaking in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Ricciardo said: "What I haven't done well, I would say, is probably just put it under the consistency bracket.

"Sometimes it's knowing, sometimes it's still a bit unknown, but we haven't been able to just be that consistent Q3 guy, or get the points every weekend. So that's where I haven't done well - week in week out - and in this sport that could be a big downfall."

Ricciardo not over the hill

Ricciardo, however, does feel there have been plenty of moments when he has done "particularly well, or exceptionally well" to show that he still has what it takes.

"I'm not saying that's enough," he added. "But I do put quite a lot of weight on that, especially at this point in my career when people are asking, 'Does he still have it,? Is he getting on a bit?'"

Highlighting Fernando Alonso (43) and Lewis Hamilton (39) and what they continue to achieve at their age, he remarked: "They have proven you can still do it at an older age.

"At least the big results have been big enough where people then say, 'Oh, he can still put a good lap together', or, 'He can put a very, very good lap together'.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, fortunately, the stopwatch can still be a very good one, and for whatever reason, the consistency hasn't been there, so I've got to sort that part out.

"But what I'm happy about is I've still got it, and it's just up to me to show it more often.

"But I think the it factor, when people question that, at least more than once, I've been able to say, 'Okay, I can do it'.

"I've just got to sort my shit out."