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Ricciardo: 'There will be competition between me and Norris'

Ricciardo: 'There will be competition between me and Norris'

04-04-2021 07:55 Last update: 09:34

GPblog.com

After a strong season in 2020, British team McLaren will battle it out this year to defend their P3 in the constructors' standings. This year, the team will do so with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in the car. Despite the two being among the more entertaining racers on the grid, Ricciardo stresses that competition remains paramount.

Asked, in an interview with Formula1.com, how much banter we can expect between the two McLaren drivers, Ricciardo replied: “I think only time will tell, there’s certainly going to be competition."

Ricciardo immediately nuanced: "I think there’s no sugarcoating at this level and there’s certainly a respect among all drivers, especially teammates because a lot of the time you can be like first rivals."

Good cooperation

Ricciardo argues that he and Norris have already built a strong partnership, and are both conscious of their duty to move the team forward, both on track and off. "We actually executed a really good test together, the way we work together in the meetings, the debriefs, trying to assist the team to get better."

The Australian continued: "I think there is a really good relationship and camaraderie and I expect that to continue, on track I’m sure we’ll have some battles. I’ll put the competition first and then the banter second, but I think that if we get the team to where we want it to be, then we should have some fun along the way."