Daniel Ricciardo praised the McLaren team for lifting his spirits up during the difficult moments he endured in 2021.
Life at McLaren went off to a languid start for Ricciardo in 2021. He joined the team after two seasons with Renault, with whom he earned two podium finishes in 2020. McLaren was in a seemingly better place at the start of the year than the French team.
However, Ricciardo found it very difficult to adjust to his MCL35M and spent the first half of the season being consistently outperformed by teammate Lando Norris.
He picked up some form in the latter stages, finishing 1st at the Italian GP. His result in Monza earned McLaren their first race win since 2012.
He’s been better since then, but the 32-year-old admits that 2021 wasn’t his best year in the sport. He acknowledges the fact that he needs to perform a lot better in 2022 to repay the faith McLaren have shown in him.
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Daniel Ricciardo never felt he was being ‘kicked down’ at McLaren
Despite his on-track struggles, the former Red Bull driver insisted that he loved the environment in Surrey. When asked by GP fans if he was in a good place at McLaren, the honey badger replied with, “Yeah, I was.”
“That’s where the first half of the season was probably even more frustrating because I really do like the environment, and I have good relationships with the team.
“Everything other than the stopwatch was pretty good, but obviously, I just wasn’t giving them what I wanted to obviously.” he continued.
“That was in a way, tough. But moments like Monza, even Austin, Austin was a good weekend for me.”
“These weekends are so much cooler because I really do get on with the team, I like their way about racing, I like the support that I’ve had as well.”
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Ricciardo highlights the difference between Red Bull and McLaren
Before joining Renault in 2019, Ricciardo spent his entire F1 career within the Red Bull ranks. He won 7 races with the team from Milton-Keynes before deciding to move on.
He said that he had to deal with a lot of ‘tough love’ by the Red Bull team and their advisor Helmut Marko in particular. While he admits that it made him a better driver, he realizes that that treatment wouldn’t have helped his situation at McLaren this year.
“Helmut is a guy which, through my junior career, there was a lot of tough love. And I think that was really good for me because it made me grow up quicker.” said Ricciardo.
“Here, the first half of the season in particular, there was a lot of support. They weren’t trying to kick me down or put me down when I was already down. They were trying to bring me up.”
“I’m not saying I want to be coddled all the time, but I think their way about dealing with it and going about it and not overwhelming me was really nice, and I feel that. I feel that with the team. There is a lot of family-style support.” he concluded.
