Daniel Ricciardo reveals why it didn’t bother him when he was under the shadow of Lando Norris after joining McLaren in 2021.
Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren in 2021 with the hopes of being at the front of F1 again, as his last spell with Renault 9now Alpine) was marred with the lack of progress he aimed.
Now, coming into the setup of the Woking-based team he had several challenges. Among them, the biggest was to compete against the 10-year-younger competitor, yet a phenomenal youngster Lando Norris.
Naturally, for a veteran like Ricciardo, it would have been easy for him to take the initial defeats against Norris to the heart. However, it didn’t affect his ego and claims that he took them positively.
“We’ve definitely learned from each other this year,” said Ricciardo in an end-of-season interview including GPFans. “Even the times where he [Norris] has been quicker he’s still taken some things from me.”
“I don’t want to say it’s 50-50. I’ve probably taken more from him from a driving point of view. If this was his first year in F1 and he just jumped in and was doing what he’s doing, then maybe my pride would be a little hurt.”
“I certainly acknowledge I’ve been in the sport a lot longer, but he is the guy in this team that knows the team. Even like giving feedback, he’ll relate to things.”
“So I was quickly aware – forget the years in the sport – this is the more experienced guy, even with just the way he interacts with engineers and that, he knows the guys.”
“So I need to listen to what he’s saying and try to understand what’s what with the car.”
Daniel Ricciardo explains how his troubles benefitted too
Ricciardo also explained how his troubles were also potentially beneficial to the team and allowed Norris to take away things. Though he claims that had a rookie been there instead of Norris, it would have been more hurtful to him.
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“Through me talking about the things I can’t do with this car, it’s also giving him an awareness of… ‘So that’s why these other teams can do this. This is where we need to focus more energy and attention’.”
“It’s been good. My pride is okay but if this was a rookie doing this, then I’d probably be a little more sad.”
Also read: When NFL legend Tom Brady met F1 star Daniel Ricciardo at the 2018 Monaco GP
