“Gonna have nightmares of Daniel Ricciardo’s rear wing”: Pierre Gasly lauds 33-year old McLaren star for stellar drive at Italian GP

Pierre Gasly found it difficult to overtake Daniel Ricciardo at the 2022 Italian GP and lauded the McLaren star for his great driving. 

Ricciardo joined McLaren last year in a move that seemed perfect on paper. However, it turned out to be a dismal first campaign for the Aussie who was comprehensively beaten by teammate Lando Norris.

A lot of people thought that this year was going to be the one where he truly announced himself at McLaren. Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be even worse and he is even further behind Norris than he was in 2021. McLaren decided to pull the plug early, and revealed that Ricciardo won’t remain with next season.

The Woking-based outfit decided to sign Oscar Piastri as Norris’ teammate for next year. As of now, Ricciardo’s future in the sport is in doubt as nothing has been announced yet.

AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly meanwhile, praised the eight-time race winner after the 2022 Italian GP.

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Daniel Ricciardo barely made any mistakes, says Pierre Gasly

Ricciardo’s best race and only highlight during his nightmare McLaren stint came in Monza itself. He won the 2021 Italian GP and guided the team to their first race win since 2012.

Coming into this season’s outing in Monza, everyone was certain that Ricciardo was in no condition to challenge the frontrunners. In spite of that, Ricciardo was set for a strong points finish until his race ended on lap 47. A mechanical failure forced him to retire and bring an end to what would have been a statement performance from him.

Gasly spent a huge part of his race trying to get past Ricciardo. The Frenchman, however, was unable to do so and he praised Ricciardo for his incredible defensive work.

“I’m definitely gonna have some nightmares of Daniel’s rear wing over the next couple of days,” he said. “Because I spent, I don’t know how many laps behind him. I tried everything, but he didn’t do one single mistake.”

With six races to go, Ricciardo is currently P14 in the Driver’s Championship standings with 19 points to his name.

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