Ricciardo finding similar troubles at McLaren to duel with Verstappen

Halfway through the Formula 1 season, it is time to take stock. Daniel Ricciardo was brought to McLaren as the big man, but so far he hasn't lived up to his status. Is Lando Norris that good, or is Ricciardo just disappointing? 

Statistics

Team: McLaren

Drivers: Lando Norris - Daniel Ricciardo

Race: 9-1

Points: 113 - 50

Qualifying duel: 8-3

Qualifying difference: 0.309s in favour of Norris

The journey since Red Bull Racing

At the end of 2018, Ricciardo surprised many people with his departure from Red Bull Racing. Yes, he was starting to lose the duel to Max Verstappen more and more often and the team were clearly shouting that they wanted to make Max the youngest world champion, but Ricciardo was at a top team. That top team is now fighting for the world title, while Ricciardo might not really know where he stands anymore.

He made the switch to Renault, where he managed to get rid of Nico Hulkenberg with relative ease. Ricciardo was the big man at Renault, but the team was unable to deliver on its promises. Before the second season had even started he announced his departure to McLaren, to then climb the podium twice in 2020 in his Renault.

At McLaren, Ricciardo was then also brought in as the big man, but is he still? He won the Sebastian Vettel duel, managed to make things difficult for Verstappen for a very long time, but beating Esteban Ocon and Hulkenberg may not have been as valuable. Has Ricciardo stalled in his driver development since leaving Red Bull? It looks like it has.

Relapse at McLaren

In 2021 Ricciardo has to deal with a huge setback. Where he was always the frontrunner with his previous teams, he now gets one slap after another around the ears. Norris was on the podium three times already and scored more than double the amount of points. These are numbers Ricciardo is not used to.

Sunday is not Ricciardo's only problem, however, as things are already going wrong on Saturday. Three times Ricciardo qualified faster than Norris, but overall he loses 0.309s on average per qualifying. That's quite a lot, especially compared to a driver who is only in his third year in Formula 1.

Still, choosing Ricciardo prior to this season seemed like a perfect choice by McLaren. Everyone knows what Ricciardo can do and maybe he just needs a little more time to get used to it at McLaren. McLaren will hope that the Australian manages to close the gap quickly though because it doesn't pay him that much to drive far behind Norris.

The talent of Norris

Ricciardo finds himself in a somewhat ironic situation. Where he fled Red Bull because of the duel with Verstappen and his position within the team, a similar situation seems to arise at McLaren. Norris is the apple of British McLaren's eye, and with his performance, Norris makes sure the whole team is behind him.

In that respect, 2021 couldn't be a better year for Norris than it is now. Norris' first two years in F1 have been mixed. He was very fast on Saturdays, but for two years he was easily outscored by Carlos Sainz. The fact that Norris is taking the lead with such a renowned driver as Ricciardo next to him says a lot about his development.