“He’s been kicked in the guts” – Martin Brundle feels Daniel Ricciardo should put his own career goals on the backfoot for now to help McLaren salvage their disappointing 2022 season.
Daniel Ricciardo had a disappointing first season for McLaren last year, and it is only getting worse. Unlike last season, McLaren is struggling for pace and performance, and even last season’s star Lando Norris is struggling to keep pace.
This has led Martin Brundle to suggest Ricciardo s9hould completely focus on helping McLaren this season. The Aussie has immense experience in the sport, and Brundle feels this could come handy for the British team.
“It’s a difficult time for him [Ricciardo]. He’s been kicked in the guts, hasn’t he, which is a great shame.
“Daniel’s got the talent and determination, I have no doubt about that. He’s got the touch behind the wheel. [But] you can’t out-drive a car if it’s not fully competitive.
“It’ll be telling now if he can dig deep and help. He’s got to help drive that team forward. That’s what he’s there to do. That’s why they wanted his speed and experience.
“He’s almost got to put his own career to one side and just drive the team forward and then reap the rewards from there rather than look inward.”
McLaren to finish in Top 5 this season?
McLaren have performed immensely in the past two seasons, finishing in the Top 4. But this season looks like a massive struggle, based on Bahrain and the practice sessions in Jeddah.
Brundle puts this down to the old wind tunnel, with the new one expected to take a couple of seasons.
“I think they’ll [McLaren] get it right.
“The problem with McLaren, as great a team as they are, is they’ve got a new wind tunnel coming… and that wind tunnel won’t deliver results on track until 2024 probably — until you get it up, calibrated and then the designs going through that tunnel onto the track.
“It is a long lead time. So he [Ricciardo] might have to show some patience there, and they’ll have to show patience with him.”
