After a 2021 which – apart from the Monza victory – was characterized more by the lows than by the highs – Daniel Ricciardo is ready to leave for his second season at the wheel of McLaren. The Australian struggled a lot during the last championship, almost never being able to get close to the performances of his young teammate Lando Norris. Despite all the difficulties faced, however, the native of Perth was good – right in the Italian GP – to turn the only opportunity that happened to him during the year into an unexpected success. Thanks to a slow adaptation to the MCL35M, the former Red Bull and Renault driver certainly showed a better performance in the second half of the championship than in the first.
Also for this Ricciardo, interviewed by the German site Auto Motor und Sport, wanted “Divide in two” the assessment on the first year in Woking. “I hate that I have to give myself a bad grade – Ricciardo commented with the usual sincerity – because it took me a lot of work and commitment. So if I give myself a 3 I feel like I haven’t tried and that’s not the case. I give myself a 4 for the first part of the season and a 7 for the second, which is a average of 5.5“. Riccardo ended the year with 45 points less than Norris in the standings. However, this does not seem to have undermined his self-esteem. “When he provided feedback, he was referring to the previous year – explained # 3 – so I realized pretty quickly that I had to forget the past years. Lando is the most experienced driver on the team when it comes to working with engineers. So I had to listen and understand how the car was going “.
Regarding his future, however, Ricciardo – who has changed three teams since 2018 – still seemed convinced that he wanted to try to achieve success with McLaren, without looking around again. “I really like the McLaren environment – reiterated the native of Perth, recently appointed Member of the Order of Australia – I really want this project to work. I like the brand, I like their street sports cars. I can say that I really enjoy being part of this company, being part of the McLaren family. The reason I’m not even thinking about another team is because I’ve also won a GP in what was perhaps the most difficult year of my career. So my thought is: if I won in a year like this, what can I achieve in the future? “he concluded.
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