“It’s not an easy thing to adapt to”: Lando Norris says he understands “parts” of Ricciardo’s struggle in McLaren

“It’s not an easy thing to adapt to”: Lando Norris says he understands “parts” of Ricciardo’s struggle in McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo

It is no news that Daniel Ricciardo has been having a hard time in McLaren ever since he joined the British team back in 2021. The racer, who had an impressive record with Red Bull, left the Milton-Keynnes-based team in 2018 to join Renault, where he stayed till the end of 2022. Then, Ricciardo signed a deal with McLaren to partner with Lando Norris for two years. By the end of 2022, Ricciardo needs to secure a seat in any of the F1 teams if McLaren does not renew their contract with him. As of now, because of the Australian’s missed opportunities and poor race finishes, it seems that the odds are not in Daniel Ricciardo’s favour.

Although Ricciardo managed to get some valuable Championship points last year in his McLaren alongwith a race win in Monza, he has not had any luck with his MCL36 in 2022. As his teammate Lando Norris has already put up some impressive performances in this season, with a podium finish in Imola, the pressure is on Daniel Ricciardo to prove that he deserves the seat in McLaren. But as of now, Ricciardo’s performances are not satisfactory and Lando Norris has spoken up about the struggles which might be the reason why the Honey Badger is not performing up to the mark in McLaren.

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Lando Norris elaborates on Daniel Ricciardo’s difficulties in McLaren, says he has faced the same

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo

In the ten races that have happened in the 2022 season so far, Daniel Ricciardo has had only two top-10 finishes. Two years ago, in 2020, Daniel was the fourth racer in the World Championship standings, and now he is down to 14th spot with only 15 points in his name. While it is clear that the Australian is struggling to adapt to the McLaren car, Lando Norris has spoken about the issues that he believes Daniel is facing and why he has not been able to perform well enough to meet everyone’s expectations this season.

In Norris’ own words, the car characteristics of their McLaren makes it a bit difficult to drive and it requires a different technique altogether. When asked about why Ricciardo is struggling with scoring some points in the races, Lando Norris said, “I can understand on some points. Because I do feel like it’s a difficult car to drive, our car. I think like our characteristics we’ve also had over the past few years, and even Carlos [Sainz] said it, they’re quite specific and unique.”

“So some of the driving styles you need are not ones you kind of grow up learning, and therefore you have to adapt quite a bit.”

Lando also admitted, “It’s the same for me. Especially with this year, the car is very different. And some of the characteristics we had last year are gone, and we’ve introduced some other characteristics. And I’ve had to change my driving style.”

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