“They just expected me to…kick ass”: Daniel Ricciardo blames overexpectations to plague his time at McLaren
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Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren racer Daniel Ricciardo‘s future in Formula 1 is hanging in the balance right now as thirteen races have already been held in this season and it has been hinted that McLaren will not be retaining him for 2023. That means, Daniel has only nine races to secure a place at some other team in F1, or else he might be facing an untimely exit from the sport amid poor form. The racer has been performing below expectations in the last few races, and McLaren have displayed their interest in hiring F2 Champion Oscar Piastri for Ricciardo’s spot in 2023. This would mean Daniel’s time at the Woking-based team will come to an end after this season.
While Ricciardo has time and again reassured his followers that he is going to race for McLaren in the upcoming season, the latest reports have proven it that McLaren is in the last stage of a contract talk with Oscar Piastri. It is being suspected that McLaren’s contract is the reason why Piastri denied being recruited by Alpine when the French team announced his entry into F1. If the news is to be believed, Piastri will drive for McLaren beside Norris in 2023. Now, Daniel Ricciardo is discussing why he could not perform as the British team had expected him to–and he believes they overestimated his abilities.
Daniel Ricciardo says McLaren wanted him to work wonders in a short period of time
When Daniel Ricciardo left Renault to proceed with McLaren at the end of the F1 2020 season, fans were excited to see the Australian racer in the papaya overalls. McLaren has proven themselves to be a rising team in F1, and with Ricciardo, they believed they could get closer to winning the Championship. But in the Honey Badger’s opinion, the British team overestimated his abilities. Daniel said that they wanted him to achieve a great deal within a short period of time, and they did not consider that the Australian would need some time to get used to the new McLaren car.
Speaking of his first year in McLaren where everyone in the team would get disappointed at his results so very often because he could not get them what they had expected, Daniel Ricciardo said, “This time last year there was probably a little more head-scratching from everyone. And I think that’s because…the truth is, I think they just expected me to get into the team and kick ass. So there was probably still some pure head-scratching, like ‘hmmm, what’s happening?’”
Then, Daniel did say that the team personnel have understood him better through last year and is more cooperative now. He said, “But this year, there’s more understanding and they know me now after a year, so I think it’s very clear what I like in a car, and even I’ve found this out.”
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Riddhi Mondal
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