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Ricciardo doesn't put all the blame on himself: Setup wasn't the best either

Ricciardo doesn't put all the blame on himself: "Setup wasn't the best either"

04-05-2021 17:25 Last update: 17:36
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GPblog.com

In the first two races for his new team McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo was put through his paces by his new teammate Lando Norris. Initially, the Australian didn't seem to fare much better in Portugal when he had to say goodbye in Q1 and start from a disappointing 16th place.

Unacceptable

Ricciardo did manage to recover from that blunder during the race, where he finished 9th after a strong start, although this was again lower than rival Norris. Ricciardo told Speedweek.com of his weekend, starting with qualifying: "Unacceptable. Although I made some mistakes, I should have been able to make Q2 easily."

Yet the ex-teammate of Max Verstappen doesn't just blame himself: "I have openly admitted my mistakes. But the set-up of the car wasn't the best either, so that's the fault of all of us." It made for a dogged Ricciardo: "I have to admit I woke up Sunday morning frustrated. I took it upon myself to drive aggressively. My first lap was good, I won a few places straight away."

Lando Norris

Despite this, Ricciardo knows he still has mountains of work to do at McLaren: "I feel like I'm not getting the best out of the car yet in terms of set-up. We are working on that and I hope it will improve next weekend in Barcelona. We have to find a solution that makes me feel more confident in the car. Lando seems to be handling better with this car. Apart from that, he has a good run and puts in one great race after another."