Daniel Ricciardo says all drivers feel the pressure of when their seat is being questioned but he believes Sergio Perez has the experience to handle the scrutiny he is currently under.
Perez has scored just 15 points across the past six race weekends — including the Sprint in Austria — and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stated that the team needs to see an upturn in form before the summer break. Ricciardo has also had an inconsistent season but as an RB driver has been linked with Perez’s spot, and he says both of them have to solely focus on the driving aspect of the job and not the speculation around their futures.
“I guess it depends how we are spotlighted in the media, but the truth is every driver is under pressure and, even the ones that are killing it, there is then pressure for them to keep performing,” Ricciardo said. “So my point is we all feel it.
“Obviously I’ve been in the spotlight a bit this year, Checo’s in the spotlight… Even after my good race in Montreal, I said, ‘Look, I need to do another good one because you’re only as good as your last race,’ and one good weekend doesn’t quite let you off the hook. It temporarily does, but then it can quickly change.
“So look, yes, of course, I know, I’ve seen some statistics: Max [Verstappen] has scored a lot more points than Checo. And of course, yes, they are expecting a bit more, but this is the sport — it’s what we’re in. We feel it all the time. It’s just who is the spotlight of the week.
“It’s up to us to obviously try to shut it out and it’s not easy. Sometimes if everyone is always asking you questions about ‘you have this, you have that’ and it feels sometimes very negative or can feel heavy.
“But I think in my experience — and I put Checo here as well because he’s also been in Formula 1 a similar amount of time — we have dealt with it enough that I think you learn just to realize to focus on the engineering, focus on the car setup, and the rest, yeah, you hear it but you just have to roll with it.”
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While Ricciardo feels the scrutiny can be tough to handle when drivers are being asked about their performances with regularity, he also says it’s an understandable byproduct of the job of being an elite athlete competing in a series with just 20 race seats.
“Yes, it can feel relentless, and obviously I experienced it a bit at McLaren … those media sessions, they’re not exactly enjoyable. So, you’d be lying if you said, ‘Oh, it doesn’t bother me,’ or take a little bit away, but you have to accept that and try to then just deal with it.
“So, as I said, it’s part of it. I always try to be like the bigger person in terms of, ‘Yep, it’s what I signed up for, I’m trying to be the best in the world at something and at times I’ll probably fall short and this is now what’s going to come with it.’ So it’s like you make your own bed and you just have to be OK laying in it sometimes if the sheets aren’t made.
“It’s a nice quote, I’ll copyright that!”