Daniel Ricciardo’s failure to put pressure on Lando Norris during their time at McLaren in Formula 1 proved a turning point for the Briton, according to CEO Zak Brown.
McLaren elected to sign Ricciardo to replace the Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz for 2021, but he struggled to reproduce the starring level he had shown prior to his arrival.
Despite leading a memorable 1-2 finish at Monza in his maiden season with the team, Ricciardo failed to gel with McLaren cars on either side of a regulation turnover.
Norris inflicted a considerable 130-point defeat on his more established team-mate, prompting McLaren to cut short its association with Ricciardo at the end of 2022.
Following his maiden F1 win in Miami last weekend, Brown thinks thrashing Ricciardo against prior expectations was transformative to Norris’ approach and mindset.
“Carlos and him [Lando] were very even from a standings point of view,” Brown reflected on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“Lando came in as the rookie and was comfortable being the rookie and didn’t feel that pressure that there was on the other side.
“Carlos was in his fifth season and Lando could handle him. Daniel didn’t put him under pressure and it probably helped his confidence a lot.
“Daniel is an incredible race driver and a lot of people thought he was going to show Lando how things are done, and in the end it was the other way around.
“He beat Daniel, a driver with seven victories in Formula 1 [at the time]. Now, he is not so focused on his team-mate, he is more on himself.”
McLaren capitalised on Alpine’s indecisiveness with hotshot Oscar Piastri in 2022 to poach the Australian from the Anglo-French marque as Ricciardo’s replacement.
Piastri hit the ground running in his rookie F1 season as he utilised the Woking-based squad’s growing competitiveness to bag a Sprint win in Qatar and two podiums.
Brown is convinced the Australian, 23, will reach Norris’ level over time and that will stand McLaren in stead to possess the strongest driver pairing on the entire grid.
“Lando is as good as anyone in Formula 1 and Oscar is a complement to him,” Brown added.
“Oscar is not there yet, he has some inconsistencies, tire management, but they are things that happen.
“What Lando did in his first year and a half, Oscar has equalled him. He is capable of doing everything Lando can do, and if he doesn’t, it is more due to inexperience.
“Oscar is going to get better and better, and that’s why I’m very excited about our driver duo.
“Lando is as good as anyone in Formula 1 and with him and Oscar, and that tells me that we have two of the best drivers there are.”
