How Covid-19 set Daniel Ricciardo on the backfoot for woeful McLaren stint

Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren race engineer Tom Stallard claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic put the Australian on the backfoot before the start of his tenure at Woking.

How Covid-19 set Daniel Ricciardo on the backfoot for woeful McLaren stint

Daniel Ricciardo [L] Lando Norris [R] (images via IMAGO)

Daniel Ricciardo was often considered to be a future world champion at Red Bull. However, the Australian driver had two underwhelming stints at Renault and McLaren. The 34-year-old spent two miserable seasons at Woking before leaving a year earlier than his contract. Now, Ricciardo’s race engineer from McLaren, Tom Stallard has revealed how Covid-19 played a part in the Honey Badger’s poor tenure with the British team.

Stallard highlighted that Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren at the end of 2020 during the second Covid-19 lockdown. The Briton admitted that things were quite challenging as the 34-year-old was in Los Angeles. Subsequently, Tom Stallard and the British team greeted the Australian over a video call. Ricciardo was briefed about technical details. However, there was a lack of social interaction between the Australian and his new team.

Daniel joined the team during the second Covid lockdown. That was quite challenging because he was based in Los Angeles and we had to [get to know each other] over video call. We could cover the technical stuff, but we missed out on quite a lot of the social interaction.
Tom Stallard told BBC Sport
YouTube video

Tom Stallard claimed that it was important for a team to know its driver to understand non-verbal cues. Moreover, the Briton highlighted that Formula 1 is a sport without any real training for drivers over the winter. This made the situation worse when Daniel Ricciardo continued to struggle during his two seasons at Woking.

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Ideally you know the driver well enough to allow quite a lot of unheard, non-verbal communication to happen between you. A driver struggling is a very tricky situation in a sport where there is virtually no training. 
Stallard explained

Subsequently, McLaren and Ricciardo tried different plans to bounce back. However, the lack of interaction due to the pandemic created a fatal lapse in communication. This could have played a major role in the Australian’s disappointing results for the Woking-based team.

You go away, lick your wounds, try to understand what happened and what you need to do differently, then come back with a new plan and try again.
Tom Stallard noted

Tom Stallard admits Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren exit was ‘frustrating’

Daniel Ricciardo was replaced by Oscar Piastri for the 2023 season. The Australian driver agreed to part ways with the British team. Stallard confessed that it took him some time to process the 34-year-old’s departure from Woking. The 45-year-old claimed that he was deep into the process of working with Ricciardo.

When the team decided that they were going to get Oscar instead of Daniel, it took quite a long time for me to process that.
Stallard continued
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo (Via: Imago)

The Briton admitted that it was frustrating to see the 34-year-old be replaced before solving the puzzle of his struggles. Tom Stallard highlighted that he never lost faith in Daniel Ricciardo, as he never thought that it was not going to work out. Nevertheless, Stallard and Ricciardo continue to be friends and the two meet each other every race.

It was frustrating that it ended before we solved the puzzle. I never really lost heart. I never felt like, 'Oh this isn't going to work out.'
Tom Stallard stated

Daniel Ricciardo was at the worst point of his career at McLaren. The Australian driver simply failed to match Lando Norris. The 34-year-old took a much needed break at the start of 2023 before returning with AlphaTauri mid-way through last season. Ricciardo has certainly improved since his time at McLaren. However, there is still a long way to go for the Honey Badger to redeem himself.

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