Daniel Ricciardo says his breakthrough victory for McLaren at the Italian Grand Prix came after he found a new level of confidence with the car.
Having joined the team from Renault at the beginning of the season, Ricciardo had struggled to compete on level terms with team mate Lando Norris. However he has made clear gains since the summer break.“The last few weekends I’ve felt more comfortable and excited to come racing,” he said. “The break was good but obviously I’m ready to go again and I think I’ve shown that.
“So it’s just trying and keep showing that. If it turns into a victory or a podium, awesome. I think we’ll do well regardless of where we stand.”
Ricciardo said there wasn’t a single area of performance where he was lacking before. “[In] braking maybe there was some stuff that I wasn’t that strong on. But in general, I wouldn’t say that was a stand-out weakness.
“I think I was probably struggling in a few areas. I probably wasn’t perfecting anything in the first half of the season.”
He believes he still has some room for improvement in the car. “I’m getting closer,” said Ricciardo. “I wouldn’t say I’m perfecting it yet.
“But certainly Monza was encouraging to go there with that style of circuit, the big braking zones, the low downforce. To have a bit of confidence throwing the car around, that was positive.
“I’m definitely confident moving forward. We’ll see, hopefully there’s some good things to come or more good things to come. I feel good, I feel better.”
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Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
23rd September 2021, 15:22
Danny Ric threw the car round monaco as usual, yet it did not translate into lap time.
Ross
23rd September 2021, 23:23
God I wish some ‘Motorsport fans’ actually knew anything about the sport.
Sviat
23rd September 2021, 15:43
It will be fun watching his face when he loses 5-7 tenths to Norris in qualifiication. Even with the win at Monza, his career seems over. I really doubt that McLaren will risk prolonging his contract, especially considering that there will be new promising drivers next year. Ricciardo is relatively old, slow, can’t compete with Norris, and doesn’t really improve.
If he manages to beat Norris in a few of the rest races, then it will be fine. But I doubt it very much.
DaveW (@dmw)
23rd September 2021, 19:54
He’s a race winner and a proven talent. Next year is basically a new formula so any adaptation issues will be reset next year.
Ross
23rd September 2021, 23:25
That you Lando? What a ridiculous comment.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd September 2021, 23:39
Missclicked report comment, I’m tired, and if a mod is reading, that REALLY needs a confirmation button.
Likewise an edit button wouldn’t hurt.
In any case norris is a top level talent, similar to verstappen, leclerc and russell, hence ricciardo doesn’t have to beat him, he can just be his “ricciardo”, a number 2 who is somtimes strong enough to beat him, like he did at red bull.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
24th September 2021, 11:49
One swallow does not make a spring. It was good seeing the old Ricciardo at Monza, but let’s wait and see how he performs the upcoming weekends to see whether he has actually found the leak.