McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo admits he did not appreciate Lando Norris’s full potential as a driver until spending a season alongside him as his team mate.
Ricciardo moved from Renault to McLaren for the 2021 season and regularly struggled to match team mate Norris’s performances, ending the season 45 points adrift of the 22-year-old in the drivers’ championship despite taking McLaren’s first race win in almost a decade in Italy.While Ricciardo says he expected Norris to be a formidable team mate when joining McLaren, he admits he did not anticipate how often he would reach his full potential out on the track.
“In a way I was… I don’t want to say ‘surprised’, because there’s 20 of us here out of many in the world who are trying to get here,” Ricciardo said. “So I’m always expecting someone very talented, someone fast, but I guess the ‘scale’, you’re not really sure.
“I’ll be honest, probably like most of the world and F1, I think I knew Lando was good, but I didn’t know where the scale went to and I think he pushed that scale as high as it could probably go last year. Again, I don’t know another word for ‘surprise’ because I wasn’t surprised. I guess I was impressed – maybe that’s a better word – with his skill, with the level he took the car to. That was obviously difficult at times for me because I was not always there. But it was also encouraging to see that the car could be put to that level. It was just for me to then try and figure out.”
Norris’s performances over his first three seasons in Formula 1 have earned the faith of his McLaren team, who recently rewarded him with a major contract extension, keeping him with the team until at least the end of 2025.
With Ricciardo contracted until the end of the 2023 season, the 32-year-old says he does not feel under pressure to secure a similarly lengthy extension with McLaren.
“I think I’m in a different place in my career,” Ricciardo said. “Long term stability is not something which I guess I’m desperate for or I need massively. So we are in a different place.
“I do think that McLaren extending their contract of Lando is a good thing. I think it’s a good thing for the team, but also for Lando. Not only were his performances great last year and he’s – at least on his trajectory – getting better and better, but I know that he loves the team. This is the place he wants to be. That’s also the most important, as well. You need to be in an environment where you’re happy. So I think both sides cementing now this long term commitment, it’s a really strong thing, especially for a young driver. So, yeah, I think it’s a good move. And yes, I was happy to see it. I was definitely not not-happy to see it.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
13th February 2022, 10:00
Not-happy?. I’ve never encountered this alternative form to ‘unhappy.’
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
13th February 2022, 10:07
I’m not not not not-happy he feels that way.
OOliver
13th February 2022, 11:18
If only Flavio was here to design the race suit like the last one he did for Alonso.
erikje
13th February 2022, 14:20
Its a bit sad that after leaving RedBull he created the same environment with a younger faster driver in a team that sees the future in that younger driver.
The main difference now is he switched form a potential winning team to a nice mid fielder..
Lets hope 2022 will bring him the luck and car he needs to achieve his ambition.
Mooa42
14th February 2022, 0:40
I’m a Dan fan, but I would also be happy to see him in an indycar and Pat O’Ward in F1.
Pat and Lando would make a great driver line up and Dan seems destined to race in America.
Just a Fan
13th February 2022, 14:24
Ricciardo underestimated Norris, let’s be real. And then had a rude awakening. Hope he takes Norris more seriously this season.
Sergey Martyn
13th February 2022, 16:19
Well, does anybody here remember that even Kvyat beat Ricciardo back in 2015? Huh?
Qeki (@qeki)
13th February 2022, 18:48
And Ricciardo beat Vettel in 2014
Initially
13th February 2022, 21:20
And Vettel beat Webber. And Webber beat Rosberg. And Rosberg beat Hamilton. And Hamilton beat Alonso. Vettel > Alonso?!
Mashiat (@mashiat)
13th February 2022, 21:17
He beat him on points, but Ricciardo was superior throughout the year.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th February 2022, 1:35
Points don’t tell the whole story: there’s no way rosberg drove better than hamilton in 2016, yet got more points, ricciardo indeed demolished vettel in 2014 no matter what way you look at it and kvyat only got more points than ricciardo in 2015, performance wise he wasn’t quite there.
Aapje (@aapje)
13th February 2022, 17:03
Did he just call him fat? ;)
Qeki (@qeki)
13th February 2022, 18:52
In the end if they are fighting each other for the title which one is Mclaren choosing? A race winning driver who challenged Max but came to Mclaren because he didn’t feel right before or A mclaren junior who has been with them for a long time.
HJ
13th February 2022, 22:32
In Russia we saw what Norris under pressure is: nothing special.
JC
13th February 2022, 22:38
He was driving to what his team were telling him to do, against his instincts.
He’s the same driver who a 7* time champion called a hell of a driver.
*really 8
HJ
13th February 2022, 22:44
Lewis was just being nice ;-).
If you like to find a excuse for panicking Norris, fine. This is wat he is under pressure and changing conditions.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th February 2022, 1:37
Hamilton 8 wdc is a joke considering verstappen was more deserving this year on average.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th February 2022, 1:37
Else ask yourself why even a british website like this (not saying they’re biased, but they certainly had no reason to favour verstappen) put hamilton 2nd in the rankings…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th February 2022, 1:39
Norris was actually impressive in russia, as long as he had suitable tyres for the conditions he did great, he went slightly faster than hamilton, made more mistakes but managed to keep him behind (hamilton is still very strong on wet track and had far more exp), he also didn’t crash with slicks on full wet conditions, he couldn’t do more than that unless he had a crystal ball to predict the track wouldn’t dry but would’ve worsened by far.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th February 2022, 7:56
Predicting weather is always hard but his team did ask him to pit they lack to force him to pit. Team could see much more what other driver feedback were and handle according.
Stash (@stash)
14th February 2022, 5:56
Yes a lot of us do remember. Kvyat beat Ric’ on points and Ric’ beat Kvyat as a driver most of us recall. As it was.