Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the reasons he believes he has been outperformed by his teammate Lando Norris on multiple occasions.
As Daniel Ricciardo gets ready to part ways with McLaren and probably the sport at the end of the 2022 season, he has admitted the reasons for his defeat with the team.
The Honeybadger joined the Woking-based team in the 2021 season and has since struggled to deliver an impressive performance. On top of that, he has been outperformed by his teammate Lando Norris on multiple occasions.
While the Australian driver has given up on the battle with his teammate or the car and has accepted defeat he has cited two reasons why Norris can make the car work but he can’t.
Speaking to The Race, Ricciardo believes that because Norris has driven for only one team in his entire F1 career, the young Briton has an edge over the Honeybadger in terms of performance.
The 33-year-old Aussie elaborated on his theory and said that Norris has driven multiple variations of the McLaren f1 car over the years. Therefore, in a way, the 23-year-old is more in tune with some of the elements of the car.
“So obviously, he’s good. And there’s an element of ‘ignorance is bliss’,” he added.
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“The kid’s good” – Daniel Ricciardo does not undermine Norris’ talents
Another reason that the Honeybadger believes has been a factor in his underwhelming performance in comparison to his teammate is Norris’ talents.
Ricciardo admits that Norris is a talented driver and he would never take that credit away from him. The Australian believes that if he does, he is just a sore loser.
The 8 GP winner showered praise for his young teammate and revealed that Norris does not lack knowledge of race cars from a technical point of view.
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What problems did the Honeybadger face with McLaren?
There are several reasons that led to Ricciardo’s downward spiral with McLaren such as the problems with both the McLarens, the incompatibility of the car with the Australian’s driving style and McLaren’s old wind tunnel.
While Ricciardo admits that he certainly has weaknesses and the McLaren car has exposed it to the world, he does not have answers to all the questions.
The 33-year-old revealed that along with the team, he has been trying to find a way to progress but there are always unforeseen hurdles and while he is an optimistic person, he can’t be naive.
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