INTERVIEW: Daniel Ricciardo hopes new chassis will save Red Bull ambitions

Ricciardo's rebound after months on the sidelines was one of the stories of last season. Not quite broken following two troubled years with McLaren, but certainly shorn of confidence, the Australian eventually had a comforting arm thrown around him by Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner.

Horner was convinced the Ricciardo he knew from the driver's previous five-season spell with the team from 2014-2018 had not suddenly disappeared, although it was clear time was required to carry out a rebuild of sorts, leading to him becoming a third driver initially, compromising simulator work and extensive marketing appearances.

Over a short period, the trademark smile that had waned at McLaren again returned. Crucially, in the simulator sessions, Ricciardo began to piece together just where and why it had all gone so horribly wrong with McLaren.

It took one scintillating lap of Silverstone, in a test session two days after the British Grand Prix last July, for Red Bull to take the decision that rookie Nyck de Vries should be axed from his drive with AlphaTauri and Ricciardo handed a reprieve.

The first two outings with the team, in Hungary and Belgium, were sighters as the results of 13^th and 16^th were hardly eye-catching, albeit in a difficult-to-handle car that had consistently found itself running towards the rear of the field.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race following F1's summer sojourn, disaster struck. In steering away from a potential collision with compatriot Oscar Piastri, who moments earlier had crashed into a barrier around the banked Turn Three during a practice session, Ricciardo also hit the barrier, breaking a bone in his left hand in several places.

It was an accident that sidelined him for the following four races before embarking on a comeback over the final five during which he banked the team's best result of the season, finishing seventh in Mexico City.

With late-season upgrades propelling the car on an upward trajectory, and the team off the foot of the constructors' championship as it went on to finish eighth, high hopes were carried through the off-season and into the current campaign.

Ricciardo went into it in a bullish mood, making clear he wanted to return to Red Bull for next year, knowing there is a seat available with Sergio Perez out of contract.

With the team changing its identity and Team Principal over the winter, transitioning to Visa CashApp RB under Laurent Mekies, the initial exuberance from Ricciardo soon waned as he again struggled to marry his particular driving style to the car.

On the opposite side of the garage, team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, also eyeing a promotion to Red Bull, managed to quickly get a grasp on the car's nuances, qualifying in the top ten for three consecutive races in Saudi Arabia, Australia, and his home soil of Japan.

Around Ricciardo's own home turf of Melbourne's Albert Park, Tsunoda rubbed salt into initial flesh wounds with a seventh-place finish, five positions ahead of the 34-year-old. A further point was claimed at Suzuka where Ricciardo crashed out after a lap-one collision with Williams' Alex Albon.

Admitting to lacking feeling with the car, when informed a new chassis was being made available for F1's return to China after a five-year absence, Ricciardo conceded he was the first to put his hand up in the hope it would make a difference.

At a circuit at which he has a strong affinity, as it is the scene of one of his eight race victories, Ricciardo out-qualified Tsunoda for both the sprint and the grand prix, in which he was running strongly and likely on course for a points finish until Aston Martin's Lance Stroll ran into the back of him during a safety car period.

Although Ricciardo attempted to continue once the race restarted, it quickly became apparent the damage sustained was considerable, forcing him into a second successive retirement for the first time in six years.

Stroll initially called Ricciardo "an idiot" over the team radio. A fuming Ricciardo responded in kind, demanding the Canadian take responsibility for his actions.

Whilst Ricciardo could do nothing about what has unfolded in the past two races, there is a growing pressure on his shoulders to perform and deliver results. At this stage, a coveted return to Red Bull is looking like a long shot.

There is cautious optimism the new chassis is a step in the right direction. He conceded to feeling a difference, reluctantly as he does not wish to place all his eggs in this one basket just yet.

For now, it is "one little box to tick and make sure we're all okay – and peace of mind”, readily conceding the team "haven’t found anything wrong with what I had, but sometimes these things might be visible, might not".

He added: "Again, maybe it’s just to clear my mind and have it [the new chassis]. Look, regardless, even if I had my old chassis, it doesn’t change my approach to the weekend. But I’m sure deep down it will help in one-way shape or form.

“Say the next five [races], I completely do this 180, then I would have confidence in saying, ‘Alright, maybe we will never know what it was, but something didn’t maybe feel right with the previous chassis I was racing'.

“I would love to be here in five races time and say that because it means the season has definitely turned around and put that thing to bed. We’ll see, but I’m encouraged so far.”

These are testing times for Ricciardo, particularly when something he so desperately desires and was within reach at the start of the season, is fading from view.

Even Horner, who would love nothing more than to see Ricciardo back to his best, recognises "his season hasn't really got going yet. He's had some difficulties. By his own admittance, he would feel he's underperformed so far this year."

As to the future, Horner maintains that "it's pretty much in Daniel’s hands". He added: "He needs to show the kind of head-turning form to make not only ourselves but potentially others take notice."

To increase the pressure, Liam Lawson, who performed superbly in standing in for Ricciardo last season, is "waiting in the wings", according to Horner, with the New Zealander "champing at the bit to get an opportunity".

Horner maintains there is "nothing pre-set or preordained as to when or even if that would take place. The priority is with the drivers who are in the race seats at the moment, and we'll see how that pans out."

Clearly, there are no guarantees for Ricciardo in either direction. He will be hoping he turned a corner in China to some extent. The next few races will confirm that otherwise he could yet suffer the same fate that befell de Vries last season.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.