Daniel Ricciardo says he accepts criticism on his form and that “no-one is going to be harder on me than myself”, amid his difficult recent run in Formula 1.
Ricciardo has scored only 11 points across the opening six rounds of 2022 and claimed his sole top 10 result in a race in Australia.
Team-mate Lando Norris has scored 39 points, which included a podium in Emilia Romagna.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown gave an interview with Sky Sports earlier in the week in which he outlined that Ricciardo had not met expectations since his move for 2021.
When asked about the comments Ricciardo said: “Well it’s not false, it’s pretty true. It’s something… comments I don’t take personal – my skin is tanned beautiful and also thick!
“No-one is going to be harder on me than myself, I know I don’t want to be racing around 10th, 12th places.
“I still believe I can be at the front and belong at the front. There’s certainly been more testing times, in trying to get up and maximise myself in this car.
“We’re working together hard at it, the team wants it, I want it, we’re just working through it.”
Ricciardo affirmed that “we found an issue on the car” after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and that it has now been rectified.
“I think there’s still more that I’d like to be getting more out of it,” he said of the MCL36.
“Sometimes I can see [where to find time], sometimes it’s less clear. I think we’ve also had a few things that have not gone let’s say our way and interrupted some of the sessions. So it’s a combination of a few things, but putting that aside, it’s still been a little bit tricky for me to always gel 100 per cent with the car.”
… just one look at Daniel Ricciardo tells us everything we need know, just how screwed up things are, gross mismanagement there at McLaren –
This most definitely is not (NOT) our grandpappy’s McLaren. About the most once proud McLaren can muster nowadays is, silly exotic cars with oversized SUV wheels for pimps and drug dealers, and an Indycar spec series win, every so often, on an lavish F1 budget.
Biggest mistake of Daniel Riccardo’s life, vacating a factory seat at Renault, for a career-ender at McLaren. That 50 million dollar mansion Ricciardo just bought in Beverly Hills? High living follies, spending like a drunken sailor, he needed this drive to pan out. Or, in 5 years, he’s going to be bankrupt – xoxo, Samuel.
Bless his heart, high motorsport IQ notwithstanding, Ricciardo is not the sharpest pencil in the cup. McLaren has done nothing. That Ocon victory last year would have otherwise been his.
However, he would have missed out on the one at Monza, so scores even on that count.
At McLaren, it is dog-eat-dog. Far many more competent, talented drivers have been ruined by McLaren, than made. They have systematically ruined Daniel Ricciardo. Word to the wise, to you up ‘n coming drivers, avoid McLaren F1, like the plague.
They way poor Lando’s been throwing around that pig of a car, I’m mighty worried for him. Lando’s level of risk is only exceeded, by two drivers: (1) Nicholas Latifi, (2) Mic Schumacher, (3) Stroll. Neither Latifi, nor Stroll, nor Schumacher are F1 material. Until McLaren sunk their teeth into him, Ricciardo most certainly was. If Ricciardo starts pushing the envelope on that pig of a McLaren, he may not live long enough to file backruptcy.
Ruined as in gave him a win which he never got at Renault.