Struggling Daniel Ricciardo Sheds Light on F1 Future with McLaren

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It has not been a stellar season so far for Daniel Ricciardo, but he has emphasized his total commitment to McLaren and his hunger to turn around his current predicament.

Eight-time race winner Ricciardo has only one top-10 finish this season, that on home soil in Australia, and sits on 11 points compared to the 48 amassed by McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Ricciardo is 11th in the points standings. He hasn’t finished a season outside the top 10 since 2013, when he finished 14th.

Ricciardo’s form at recent Grands Prix has been particularly underwhelming, falling behind Norris in Spain despite the Norris’ struggles with tonsillitis, while his Monaco weekend unravelled after a heavy crash during practice.

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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown hinted during a media briefing at the Indianapolis 500 that “mechanisms” exist within Ricciardo’s contract that could facilitate an early departure. Ricciardo joined McLaren on a three-year contract in 2021, and he is rejecting speculation that he may not see out that deal.

“The clarity is clear for us moving forward, my contract is clear with the team until the end of next year, I’m fully committed, I’ve certainly voiced that,” Ricciardo said ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. “It’s obviously now just (going) on track to show it and show these moments and these races I know I’m capable of. I have the full support of the team and we want to do it together.”

Ricciardo last year struggled to adapt his driving style to the nuances of McLaren’s car and had a subdued season aside from his stunning victory at Monza.

So far, 2022 has followed a similar narrative, despite the regulatory reset, but Ricciardo has confidence that he can swiftly get on top of McLaren’s MCL36.

“I mean even with the changes this year, there’s certainly still some things like carry over from last year’s car and some of the things the car did last year still does this year,” he said. “It’s still trying to get on top of that. It’s a place where I didn’t really find these issues maybe in the past and that’s why it’s something unfamiliar for me, it’s taken longer than I would have liked to get the results and consistency week in week out but it’s not far off.

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“I don’t want to keep talking about Monza, but there were obviously times last year where I was able to show that I can make it work with this car and I do think we’re closer this year than last year. I think stripping it back to the core I still know what I can do, I still believe I have it, and it’s not a place of like low confidence or low self-esteem where I think ‘ah I don’t think it’s possible’.

“I think in this sport that everything operates at such a high level and if something’s a little bit out of tune it can have a carry-on effect so it’s really just for me to get back in that place where I’m fully in tune with the car and then it’ll come. I have felt it before, I think it could come at any circuit and I think from there it’ll probably start to build again some nice rhythm.”

Ricciardo also quickly rejected a suggestion that having a 2023 deal provides complacency.

“Signing early in a season does give you some comfort but that comfort shouldn’t be misconstrued with complacency, absolutely not,” he said. “It’s a simple as this. My results, I want them to be better, I know they can be better, and I want to enjoy that success with the team. I’m not going to sit back in 13th and be happy with that or complacent with that, not at all.”