No upgrades at all from Alfa. Just a track that suits their car and a slightly alteted quali format

Well this aged like milk

Did DR get utterly destroyed by Verstappen though?

Max beat him in the 2018 standings but Ricciardo got very unlucky with reliability that year. He had 8 DNFs, compared to 4 from Verstappen, 6 of which were down to the car rather than him.

Verstappen decisively beat him in qualifying but, with an average gap of just over a tenth, its not the embarrassment that it first appears.

Do I think Ricciardo can beat Verstappen? No, probably not. That said, he is the only driver to have beaten Max in equal machinery and they both have a preference for reactive front ends. With Max demanding an incredibly twitchy car, RB need a second driver that can reliably place their car high in the order. Especially since they may actually have to fight for the championship in 24 and 25.