Daniel Ricciardo admits teammate Lando Norris has handled tricky McLaren better

Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has admitted his young team-mate Lando Norris has been better able to handle the challenges of driving a difficult McLaren this season.

Ricciardo’s struggles in 2022 see him replaced by Australian compatriot Oscar Piastri at the end of the season, but the man known as the Honey Badger hopes to return to a racing seat in 2024.

Ricciardo’s meager 29 points this season compared to Norris’ 101 points has raised the young Briton’s eyebrows and whispers of preferential treatment.

“We have so much data, and I’ll be watching Lando’s onboards as well. And sometimes I’ll see what he can do, and I’ll just think, ‘Okay, I can see it, but I can’t.’ And I’m like, why won’t it just run, or do that?’ That’s what Ricciardo told The Race.

“Also the race pace, that was one where normally things are balanced, if maybe you can’t get the peak in the car in one lap in qualifying, towards the race it should stabilize a little bit and still sometimes the race pace I’m about eight tenths a lap slower. And I’m like, how?

“Even in debriefings you hear from Lando ‘oh this stint of the race, I really felt the car was working there, it kind of came alive’ where I was just… I never had that feeling.

“Sometimes I’m like, there’s something going on. This is not normal.’

Whatever the cause of the difference in performance between the pair, Ricciardo recognizes the quality of his teammate.

‘First, I will never deprive him of credit—the child is good. There’s no denying that. And if I say he isn’t, then I’m just a bitter, bad loser,” Ricciardo said.

The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he doesn’t know race cars, not at all. He’s actually quite in tune with what he’s doing, from a technical point of view.

“But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. There have been variations on the McLaren, but it has not driven for any other team. So in a way, I’m sure, he’s gotten used to some elements of this car.”

Ricciardo failed to replicate his best form behind the wheel of the orange McLaren in 2022 with his fifth-place finish in Singapore, his best finish all season.

Without podium finishes, DNF results in Italy and Saudi Arabia, an 18th place in Emilia Romagna and a 17th place in the Netherlands, it has certainly been a season to forget.

It would be easy for Ricciardo to blame the car. He has struggled all season to adapt to the McLaren Mercedes, endured numerous mechanical problems and missed an engine upgrade given to Norris amid claims of preferential treatment towards the younger driver.

Both drivers have disputed those claims and Norris said the McLaren setup was actually more focused on Ricciardo’s driving than his own.

Now Ricciardo has opened up in an interview with The raceabout his misery at McLaren and how Norris could have simply overcome those challenges better than him.

His 227 starts make Ricciardo the most experienced Australian F1 driver ever.

Since making his F1 debut in 2011, he has achieved eight Grand Prix wins, 32 podium finishes and three pole positions, making him the 39th most successful driver in history.