This was the season for Daniel Ricciardo to stake his claim to return to Red Bull but so far he has failed to fire a shot with one ex-champion saying he is ‘treading water.’

With Max Vertsappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez under pressure to perform after a disappointing back half of 2023 Ricciardo was seen as a real threat to return to the Red Bull garage if he could impress in the sister RB team.

But after finishes of 13th and 16th in the opening two races including a horror spin at the back of the field last weekend the eight-time Grand Prix winner has been from his best.

Former world champion Alan Jones says Ricciardo needs to lift his game ahead of his home race if he wants to have any chance of returning to a front running team.

“I think (Ricciardo) would even agree with that. Bad luck, or otherwise, I’m sure Daniel would like to have had better results than what he has had,” Jones told the Herald Sun.

“At the end of the day we can’t be blaming the car all the time, which has been a bit of a tendency in the past.

“I would love to see Daniel go extremely well in Melbourne, I would like to see Daniel go extremely well period.

“But I just think that his luck is going to have to change or he is going to have to lift his game if he has got any chance of getting back in that Red Bull team or getting back into a more competitive car.

“He (Ricciardo) is treading water. He really needs to have some very good results and put up a good show, he can’t be dwelling down where he is.”

After taking a break from the sport Ricciardo made a sensational F1 return midway through last season and pulled off some impressive results.

However Jones fears his best is behind him.

“I hate to say it, but I think we have seen the best days (from Ricciardo),”Jones said.

“He has had his bum in a few decent cars, irrespective of what people say.

“The Alpine or the McLaren, the car that he is in right now … at the end of the day he has got to start beating his teammate for a start.

“I would love him to become super competitive and be up there challenging in the points, but I just think that maybe a couple of things have got to change before we see that.”

At the other end of the field Perez has been the perfect No.2 for Verstappen not challenging for the lead but finishing comfortably ahead of the rest to secure back-to-back one-two finishes for the defending champions.