McLaren directors explains work atmosphere that Ricciardo must help sustain

With the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, the surprisingly successful collaboration between Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz comes to an end. McLaren racing director Andrea Stella has explained what the Australian will contribute to the team, and which parts of the now established McLaren culture he will simply have to accept.

With a third place in the constructors' standings, McLaren reclaimed the title of best of the rest. This is partly due to the good partnership of Norris and Sainz, Stella explained. As quoted by Speedweek.com Stella said: “We had two drivers, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, who worked extremely well together.”

Stella continued: “An open dialogue and clear ideas about how we can make the car faster. We had an atmosphere of trust and clarity." This transparency, then, should logically be safeguarded as well by incoming driver Daniel Ricciardo.

"With the arrival of Daniel [Ricciardo], we can guarantee that good working atmosphere. But Daniel is not Carlos, the dynamic with Lando will be different.” Nevertheless, “we believe that in 2021 we will be able to put a very competitive racing duo on the grid," said Stella.