“He Is Always Negative”: Daniel Ricciardo Gives Brutal Assessment as Lando Norris Surrenders Before 2024 Opener

“He Is Always Negative”: Daniel Ricciardo Gives Brutal Assessment as Lando Norris Surrenders Before 2024 Opener

In 2023, McLaren finished the season as arguably the second-fastest team on the grid. They look to carry this forward in 2024, with the MCL38 doing its first runs during pre-season testing at Bahrain. There, they looked solid, and showed some promising signs but Lando Norris was quick to dismiss McLaren’s chances. Former McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo, however , is not buying Norris’ prediction.

In his post-test rundown, Norris was asked if he thought McLaren would be a regular feature on the podium. The Briton dismissed the claim, because he feels that the others have extended their gaps. He added that the Woking-based team has to develop their car consistently in the initial phase, to catch the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Reacting to Norris, Ricciardo hilariously said (as quoted by Sky Sports F1), “I mean Lando, Lando needs a bit of, uh, a ray of positivity! He’s always negative isn’t he?”

There are times when Norris becomes a pessimist, downplaying his and the team’s abilities. His confidence took a big hit last year when mistakes he made took a potential win away from him in Qatar. With Norris being his own harshest critic, ex-teammate Ricciardo showed that he is concerned about him. But does Norris actually have reasons to worry about the upcoming campaign?

Why is Lando Norris concerned about the McL38?

Pre-season testing is usually the place drivers learn the reality about their car. Sometimes, even when the car is good, they tend to downplay expectations in front of the media. Norris’ pessimism going into the season opener in Bahrain, however, may not be completely unfounded.

According to team principal, Andrea Stella, “There are a number of innovations on the car, but not all the areas we want to address have been completed for our launch-spec car,” as quoted by  GPBlog.com.

If Stella’s assessment is true then it would be a repeat of 2023. When the MCL60 was launched, it had several issues, making McLaren one of the slowest team on the grid.  They made a phenomenal turnaround from the Austrian GP onwards. But because of their slow start, couldn’t finish higher than fourth.

Norris recently signed an extension with McLaren, because he believes they can help him in a world title. If McLaren continues with their trend of producing slow cars in the start of the season, and develop just about enough to get them into the podium places by the end, he would be extremely frustrated.

 

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Lando Norris McLaren

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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