Daniel Ricciardo is optimistic that McLaren can land a win in this 2022 season even after an underwhelming start to the season.
McLaren had a difficult start to the season in 2022 as they failed to compete against their rivals. Both drivers have emphasised that the MCL36 needs massive improvements to have a competitive season ahead.
But Daniel Ricciardo is still optimistic that McLaren could land a win in 2022. He says that it wouldn’t be surprising for him if they managed to win a race this year.
His comments are not something that should be taken as a prediction but a mere belief that McLaren can jump back to being a better side on the grid.
“If it comes, it will come a bit later than certainly desired,” said Ricciardo to the Race. “But without getting ahead [of ourselves], if we were to come and win a race at some point this year.”
“I wouldn’t actually be surprised because I still believe in the team and the process we have in place and the people we have in place to get the job done. I have 100% faith and belief in people like Andreas [Seidl, team principal].”
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Daniel Ricciardo claims McLaren is out of the Bahrain phase
In Bahrain, McLaren’s start to the season couldn’t start worse. Both drivers started way below in the grid and failed to recover themselves to a point finish. But Ricciardo claims McLaren is at least past that ahead of the Australian GP.
“[Bahrain] was a bit of a crisis mode. I think we’ve got ourselves out of that, but it’s true we’ve got to turn this ship around and I think he’s at least one of the best guys to do it. So ask me in six months’ time and I might not be surprised where we are,” said Ricciardo.
Lando Norris is not so optimistic
On the other hand, his teammate Lando Norris didn’t have any encouraging words to say after the Saudi Arabian GP. According to the Briton, McLaren would struggle in the slow speed corner circuits.
Meanwhile, he also stressed that for his team, worse situations could also come if no improvements are made. Norris, at that time, had secured a P7 in Jeddah that gave the Woking-based team its first points of the season.
Though, he also claimed that performances like Jeddah could be repeated in other fast circuits. So, over there, McLaren can fight for midtable positions, but otherwise, they would struggle.
Also read: McLaren boss believes it is important for the team to switch frustration into energy to strike back
