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Ricciardo asks for more time: It may sound simple, but it's not

Ricciardo asks for more time: "It may sound simple, but it's not"

13-07-2021 10:51 Last update: 12:11
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GPblog.com

That Daniel Ricciardo is struggling to perform since his move to McLaren is now widely known. We also reported about this earlier. The Australian decided to leave Red Bull Racing and embark on a new adventure with the French team Renault, who promised him golden mountains and podiums. After two years Ricciardo saw that it was only gold and he decided to switch to the papaya-orange McLaren. But not yet with much success.

More time

Whereas Ricciardo's teammate Lando Norris continues to amaze friend and foe with top performances and battles for podiums, Max Verstappen's good-humoured former teammate is lagging behind. The reason behind his disappointing performance so far is that Ricciardo hasn't quite mastered McLaren's MCL35M yet and therefore lacks the confidence to get the most out of his car.

Speaking to Auto, Motor und Sport There are times when I come out of a corner and think to myself: very good! One lap later I take the same corner and I think to myself: not good at all! I still have to learn to make full use of the strengths of my car and not let it go too hard where it's not so good. It's an adjustment process. Probably the hardest one in recent years. It's going to take time. More than I would like."

Not So Simple

It seems that the current team relationship between Ricciardo and Norris isn't going to change anytime soon. The Australian says he'd like to "throw the car into the corner and trust it to stick to the tarmac." But all that is proving to be not so easy. "Sounds simple, but it's not. The car doesn't seem to work with my natural driving style."