Daniel Ricciardo, an F1 driver who has been more than unlucky in his movements between teams, has recently shared his reactions to his former team McLaren’s surge to the front of the grid, describing it as surprising. This comes nearly two years after Ricciardo’s departure from the team, a period during which McLaren has evolved into potentially the quickest team in Formula 1.
“Did I predict this? I’m not going to say yes, because I don’t think I did,” Ricciardo confessed to Motorsportweek.com. The Australian racer, known for his jovial disposition and gritty competitiveness, was evidently taken aback by the rapid development of the Silverstone squad.
“I guess from that point of view, it is a bit of a surprise that in two years – less than two years – they are probably currently the quickest package on the grid,” he added.
Ricciardo’s time with McLaren was a difficult period for the driver, despite a celebrated victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix alongside teammate Lando Norris. He struggled with confidence, lacked enthusiasm, and seemed unhappy with his fall from the heights of Red Bull.
“Obviously, most of my time there was a bit more of a struggle or a challenge,” he recalled.
Following an early departure from McLaren, which saw rising star Oscar Piastri step into his shoes, Ricciardo became a Red Bull reserve driver before stepping into their sister team AlphaTauri before the team was rebranded this year to RB. Currently, he finds himself trailing behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda by 10 points.
RB is seeing a large amount of change as the team seeks to become more competitive while separating itself from Red Bull. This comes amidst the retirement of its team principal Franz Tost, with Laurent Mekies stepping up to the plate.
“A change sometimes is good. You bring in new ideas,” Ricciardo said on the subject. “It’s not that what was happening in the past with Franz wasn’t the right thing,” he clarified. “[They bring] a new way of looking at things, and I think that in itself and their intentions and the way they go about it has made people kind of stand up and say, alright, this isn’t a junior team anymore.”
He continued:
“We haven’t been able to just be that consistent Q3 guy, or get the points every weekend, so that’s where I haven’t done well, week in week out.
“At least the big results have been big enough where people then say, ‘Oh, he can still put a good lap together’,” Ricciardo said. “But I also don’t look at [McLaren] like, ‘Oh man, like if only I could have had that’. That’s the sport, that’s how it is,” he admitted. “Anyone in this sport that’s doing well and developing and making such a big step in a short amount of time, you have to complement that.”
Ricciardo’s focus is clear: “I’ve just got to sort my s**t out.”
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