“I’m probably just going to end up resenting the sport”– Daniel Ricciardo claims he desperately wants to rise above his underwhelming form.
Daniel Ricciardo was signed by McLaren with lots of aspirations, but the Australian has not managed to stand up to the expectations because he is struggling with the Woking-based team’s MCL35M.
Ricciardo’s disappointment is so intense that he has confessed he would resent the sport if he doesn’t overcome this phase. But at the same time, he’s delighted with Lando Norris’ exceptional results.
“I feel like it’s obviously for whatever reason been a very unexpected and difficult season so far, just from a pace point of view,” he told Motorsport.com after the Austrian race.
“And I guess the easiest way for me to kind of move forward is to accept that. Did I expect more? Absolutely. But I think if I every weekend go into it now expecting to be quicker than Lando, or whatever it is,” he added.
“I’m probably just going to end up resenting the sport because clearly, it’s going to take a bit more. Clearly, there’s something that is missing. I feel good in the car, especially the last three weeks; it’s felt better.
“I don’t want to say, what’s the word, wave the white flag, or succumb to whatever it is, I’m just going to not really focus or lose too much energy on that, and just accept that he’s driving very well. The aim is to obviously get closer, and help the team out as well.”
Maybe more focus can improve things.
On the other hand, Ricciardo claims with age, he is wiser about the failures and emphasises maybe more focus can bring him the desired results in the following races.
“I think that’s it, you can get lost obviously with other things. And maybe that’s the wise kind of 32-year-old in me now. But I think I’ve just got to focus on myself, and then hopefully, I can keep chipping away at it.”
Compared to races in Baku and Monaco, Ricciardo has lifted his performances, but according to him, it’s not enough, as he doesn’t want to become irrelevant.
“Yeah, it was better,” he said. “I think it was just the day I needed. And for sure, I would say for the team, the points, and it was nice to get in seventh and get points for them.
“But I mean personally, right now obviously I’m not in a championship fight, so the points are, I don’t want to say irrelevant, but I think the important thing for me was just having fun, be in some battles, and put myself in a good position.
“And that’s what I did, and the end result was some points, which is nice. I just enjoyed it. Obviously it’s been hard to fully enjoy it when the results have not been there, so I took a bit more fulfilment from from the race.”
