Daniel Ricciardo opines that Ferrari and McLaren’s competition for P3 was a “cool story” for F1 as it embarks a resurgence story for both teams.
McLaren and Ferrari vied for the P3 in the championship standings in 2021. In the end, Ferrari had a n upper-hand after giving a series of consistent performances in the last few races of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo, who faced a drought in terms of points collection in the same period that led to McLaren slipping to P4 thinks that the battle between the two historical teams was a “cool F1 story”.
“That it’s Ferrari, from the outside it’s a cool story that these two teams have had a few low years and two of the biggest teams ever,” Ricciardo said.
“And now they’re coming back and they’re fighting it out. If only it was for P1! I think that’s really the story I’m sure many fans want.”
Also read: Lando Norris on why McLaren fell off in the latter half of the 2021 F1 season
Daniel Ricciardo takes positive out of the defeat
Ricciardo thinks that in the end having a competition so tight with Ferrari was constructive for McLaren. He explains that had McLaren been alone for P3, and Red Bull and Mercedes being too dominant, if Ferrari lagged behind, it would have been dull for McLaren and could have made them complacent.
“It’s always better when you’ve got something to fight for,” the Australian explained. “If we’re in this lonely battle of third and Red Bull and [Mercedes] were too far in front, Ferrari was too far behind, I think it would be less exciting.
“I like having a target and something to chase, so that’s been good. And for sure we’ve focused some of our stuff on them and just obviously trying to beat them, but that’s probably more of a team thing.”
Also read: McLaren admits they won’t be challenging for title until 2024
