“He’s not going to be tenths faster than Carlos”- Lando Norris on competing against Daniel Ricciardo in McLaren from 2021.
Daniel Ricciardo has replaced Carlos Sainz at McLaren, with latter heading off to Ferrari in 2021. Thus, presenting new challenges for Lando Norris, who is entering into his third season in F1.
However, the Brit race driver is not worried about competing against Ricciardo, who almost has ten years of experience in the motorsport, citing a comparison between him and Sainz.
“It’s a little bit into the unknown because I’ve only had one team-mate in Formula 1, so it’s hard to know what to expect from somebody different,” he told The Race.
“But I rate Carlos extremely highly, as do Ferrari. I don’t feel like I wasn’t going up against anybody competitive, and Daniel will do something incredible.
“I’ve seen Carlos do many things better than Daniel, but there’s also a lot of things that Daniel probably does better than Carlos. He’s a different driver, but he’s not going to be tenths faster than Carlos.”
“Maybe there’s better consistency or better feedback, he’s able to do a better job in qualifying, or he’s better at tyre saving, there are these small things that he can do slightly better in.”
“A lot of it is just going to be from his experience of being with a lot of different teams in Formula 1 and at a Red Bull team which has won races lately.”
“I can’t wait for the opportunity to learn from someone like that, rather than feel worried or anything like that.”
McLaren hoping to keep the momentum
McLaren finishing third in the table gave hopes for a bright future in 2021, and team principal Andreas Seidl by signing Daniel Ricciardo hopes to keep the momentum obtained from 2020.
For that, he demands Ricciardo to make an immediate impact with the car, so that the team can challenge the duo of Mercedes and Red Bull this year.
