Lando Norris believes Daniel Ricciardo’s driving style was better suited for the McLaren MCL36 at the start of the 2022 F1 season.
Daniel Ricciardo struggled to find his pace at McLaren. Especially during the 2022 season where he could not find the pace compared to his teammate Lando Norris.
The Aussie managed to secure points in only 5 of the first 13 races. He finds himself 12th on the Drivers standings with just 19 points ahead of the 2022 Belgian GP.
While Lando managed to claim 76 points and is 7th on the standings. With his 3rd place finish in Monaco, he is the only driver outside of the top 3 constructors to have claimed a podium this season.
Lando has no doubt his teammate is quick. He himself says, “Daniel has never won a boring race in his career.” Which holds true across the 8 races Daniel has won in his F1 career.
Lando: “The car suited Daniel more at the start of the year” pic.twitter.com/26fFOxPFRS
— Dino | Spa! 🇧🇪 (@FormulaDino) August 24, 2022
The Briton accepted that there is a vast difference in how they drive. But according to him, the speculations that the car is built around Lando and not Daniel are ‘untrue’.
He says, “I do not hate the car that I am driving now. But it was very unsuited to my driving style. And I’d say at the beginning of the year it suited Daniel a lot more than it suited me.”
Lando claimed that the car is still not ideal as per his requirements. But over the season he has coped and learnt how to drive the MCL36 better.
He adds, “It’s far from ideal. I have had to adapt a lot more to the car. And if I had to do the best lap possible and I had a car, it would certainly not be this one.”
Also Read McLaren pays out $21 Million as Daniel Ricciardo leaves the team at the end of 2022 season
Lando describes his relationship with Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of the 2022 season. McLaren has agreed to terminate the Aussies contract a year early and has agreed to pay $21 Million to the driver.
Lando Norris posted a thankful not for his teammate on his social media. It read “From that moment in Monza to the laughs we’ve had out of the car, it’s been a joy working with you these last two years. Whatever’s next I wish you all the best, let’s have a mega next few months.”
What a ride @danielricciardo. From that moment in Monza, to the laughs we’ve had out of the car, it’s been a joy working with you these last two years. Whatever’s next I wish you all the best, let’s have a mega next few months pic.twitter.com/V0F5oQylpb
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) August 24, 2022
Lando says he and Daniel were good friends off-track. The duo lived close by in Monaco but hadn’t caught up much outside of race weeks.
He says he learnt a lot from the Aussie owing to his experience. The Briton said his relationship with Daniel was like an ‘experienced driver and newbie’ due to their age differences.
And in its own way, it was very different from his bond with Carlos Sainz. Summing it up Lando said, “We had our laughs, and moments and things. But people remember Car-Lando more than Dar-Lando”
