F1 drivers in the midfield discuss about approaching race weekends knowing the minimal chance in 2024 to even fight for the fag end of the Top 10.
For the past two seasons, it has been difficult for the lower rug teams to score points. With Red Bull taking centerstage and the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin showing good form, it has been difficult to get inside the Top 10.
These five teams are pretty certain to score considering the form they have shown in the last two seasons and this makes it difficult for the likes of Alpine, Visa Cash App RB, Haas, Stake F1 Team and Williams to penetrate into the Top 10.
They are always fighting to get in and or waiting for any mishaps or penalties to gain from it and get inside the Top 10. This has made difficult for drivers and teams even from the mental side of things to adjust and get into the weekends with that mindset.
Here’s what the F1 drivers feel –
Kevin Magnussen: “Well, I mean, it’s not great. Obviously, the fact that if you execute a really good weekend, then on paper you still don’t score points, that’s not great, of course. At the same time, it makes it even more competitive in the Constructors’ Championship because you’ve really got to win that B-class race to even have a chance. If you don’t win that, then your chances are very small. But, you know, historically, statistically, there will be chances. There will be more than one car at some races in those 10 first cars that will not finish or have problems. And there’s going to be races where it’s difficult to overtake. And maybe you can be lucky with a Safety Car or anything like that. So it’s not like all over, but it’s certainly harder.”
Esteban Ocon: “Yeah, well, just to respond to the question, obviously, it’s the worst feeling you can have. And I honestly hate that, you know, when you do a good weekend and you are not able to enter the scoring points, you know, there’s no reward for you in the end. But, you know, it’s up to us to try and figure out and get more performance and get closer to these cars. But yeah it is tough to go into a weekend and you know push as hard as you can also mentally you know, to be doing the maximum knowing that there could be no reward in the end. But it’s part of the job. You need to do the best you can with what you have in hand and you know that’s why you know I’m here.”
Logan Sargeant: “Yeah, I think it’s similar, of course. You want more, but I think at the end of the day as well, the bottom five teams are so close that you’re looking for every hundredth. And at the end of the day, when you’re in that position, you have to try and maximise everything to leave yourself in the position for when one of the cars in the top five teams goes out to try and pick that point up. So yeah, at the end of the day, you have to keep working hard, keep trying to find more and more and hopefully your turn and chance will come to score that point.”
Daniel Ricciardo: “Also, every weekend, my approach is maybe this track suits us more than the last track. These things can also be very track dependent. You kind of know most of the time where the fast cars are and that but… OK, I mention it a lot, but Mexico last year, we were last in the Constructors’ at the time I qualified fourth. So coming into that weekend, no one would have ever expected that and you know, you can have a good weekend like that and OK, drive well or whatever, but the car obviously worked better at that circuit. So like, there’s always this bit of hope that you also hold on to coming into every weekend. And at least I do. So I’m always excited. I know that, yeah, it’s probably not going to win this weekend, but maybe we can be in the top 10 and get a little bag of points.”
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