Steiner offers unusual theory behind sharp Ricciardo F1 decline

Guenther Steiner has offered an unusual theory behind Daniel Ricciardo's sharp F1 decline, with the former Haas boss wondering if it is to do with being beaten by team-mates. 

It was announced earlier in the week that Ricciardo will be replaced by Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remaining six races, bringing a likely end to the fan favourite's F1 career. 

Ricciardo struggled to out-perform Yuki Tsunoda this year and also struggled alongside Lando Norris at McLaren prior to his brief hiatus before replacing Nyck de Vries at what was then AlphaTauri in mid-2023.

The 35-year-old looked distraught throughout the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, with Steiner having noticed that the Australian driver was not looking like his usual self. 

"I watched him in Singapore after qualifying, I think he was on TV doing an interview," Steiner said on the Red Flags Podcast. 

"He was not in a happy place. I said, 'Danny, you're not enjoying this'. So sometimes when you don't enjoy something, it's better you leave, because there's a life for him after this.

Steiner later added: "He was a very good race car driver, won many races when he was racing against Max [Verstappen]. 

"Then decided to move on from Red Bull [for 2019] which, in the end, was a brave decision, and it worked out for a while but then he just got stuck at some place and couldn't do it anymore."

Ricciardo pressure struggles

As Steiner pointed out, Ricciardo's decision to join Renault started well, with the Australian having out-performed team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. 

Hulkenberg was, ultimately, replaced at the end of the 2019 season, with Esteban Ocon having been signed to partner Ricciardo for his second campaign with the French manufacturer.

Fast forward to this season, and Hulkenberg at Haas consistently finished ahead of Ricciardo, making Steiner wonder whether Ricciardo struggled mentally when losing to a team-mate.

Ricciardo's disappointing two-year spell at McLaren did see him beaten often by Lando Norris, whilst Yuki Tsunoda has done the same this year at RB. 

When put to Steiner whether Ricciardo was out of place at McLaren, he said: "I don't really know or maybe having a team-mate who beats him, maybe did it mentally to him. It's one of those things, Nico Hulkenberg when he was at Renault with Daniel suffered a lot.

"Hulkenberg almost finished his career after that or Daniel almost, let's say, it killed Hulkenberg's career at the time. But now look at Hulkenberg. He runs circles around Daniel. It's weird how sometimes these things happen. 

Steiner continued: "And obviously the pressure which got to Daniel as well was everybody watching him more [and asking], 'Is Daniel doing okay? Has Daniel done good? Is he bad? Is he good?'.

"And maybe he wasn't prepared for that and just couldn't deal with it. So I think he hasn't unlearned to drive a race car. It's just like he's not in a good space."