Tsunoda, according to Ricciardo, benefits from 'the setup he found'

With one of the worst season starts of his career, things are not exactly going well for Daniel Ricciardo. It doesn't get any better either when you look at his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who has outperformed the Australian every time.

"He’s driving well. It’s as simple as that. Is he doing anything that’s different? Not really," Ricciardo said of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the race weekend in China. The Australian driver has not been in the points since the 2023 Mexico race, while Tsunoda has performed better with the same car at most races and did score points.

Ricciardo suggests that the Japanese driver's performance may have increased because of his result in Mexico: "I think Mexico last year, we made a bit of a breakthrough with setup. I think after that very good weekend, it definitely made Yuki quite curious with our way of driving the car and setting it up."

With this year's results, most of the criticism has focused on Ricciardo, although they both drive the car similarly. "And I think he’s found comfort in what I found comfort in last year. I think he’s been able to kind of get the most out of that package as well. I think he’s adapted well to that and he’s driving well," Ricciardo commented. Despite the challenges, Ricciardo does have high praise for his teammate: "I don’t want to say he’s not doing anything crazy, but he’s doing very good.."