McLaren’s Lando Norris finds it interesting to see Daniel Ricciardo struggling with McLaren, while Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso perform well.
Daniel Ricciardo is having a roller-coasteresque season with McLaren, as he stands P8 in the drivers’ championship. The Australian managed to win the Italian Grand Prix, raising hopes that the honey-badger is well settled with the Woking-based team.
But coming to Turkey, Ricciardo once again showed an underwhelming performance. Though, earlier, the 32-year-old race driver confessed he is still having struggles with the car.
However, his teammate finds it amusing that while Ricciardo is struggling, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso are having effective campaigns with Ferrari and Alpine, respectively.
“I know it’s not easy [for Ricciardo], but I didn’t have an experience like his one, switching cars one time, again and again. So I can’t judge,” Norris said in an interview with Sky Italia.
“It’s interesting noticing as other drivers like Carlos [Sainz] at Ferrari are already back on the pace, Fernando [Alonso] as well with Alpine. “I thought Daniel too would have been back on the pace at this time, but he’s not far [off].”
Daniel Ricciardo may rise next year
Going into the last few weeks, except for Russia, Ricciardo didn’t perform too bad on McLaren expectations. The Australian is finally easing on his MCL35M.
McLaren had an overall poor performance in Russia, as the car was losing pace in several corners. But with six races left, Ricciardo can play a crucial element in McLaren’s chase for P3 in the constructors’ championship.
On the other hand, with the new regulations stepping in and Ricciardo getting used to the overall setup of McLaren, they can be a force to be reckoned with along with contributions from Norris.
Ricciardo needs consistency in his performances to have a desirable campaign with McLaren, which may happen in 2022, if not 2021.
