Daniel Ricciardo opens up on McLaren struggles in raw interview

Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on the struggles he has endured at McLaren while making a startling admission about his teammate.

Daniel Ricciardo’s startling McLaren revelations. (Photo by Geert Vanden Wijngaert / POOL / AFP)

Daniel Ricciardo became the master of catching his rivals off guard and jumping the brakes late into corners when he was behind the wheel of the Red Bull.

Jump on YouTube and there is countless videos of Ricciardo throwing his car into corners deeper and later than his rivals as he moved his way through the field.

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He knew the car underneath him was good enough to withstand the late braking challenge he was throwing its way and he never blinked when attempting the move.

Ricciardo became synonymous with the manoeuvre and left those watching on in disbelief countless times that he would attempt it when the overtaking window looked slammed shut.

“That wasn’t even an overtaking opportunity, unbelievable distance back,” Martin Brundle proclaimed after one daring move during the Italian Grand Prix in 2017.

The smiling West Australian however has struggled in the four seasons since he opted to depart Red Bull and join Renault before switching to McLaren.

As his tenure at McLaren comes to an end, one season short of his contract, the Aussie spoke about the ongoing struggles he faced with the Woking-based outfit.

Since joining the team, Ricciardo has ultimately been in the shadow of teammate Lando Norris but handed the team their only victory with a stellar drive at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo explained the issues he continually faced behind the wheel of the McLaren, in particular when he was going through corners. Unable to pull off what he used to with Red Bull.

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“You’re approaching a corner, and in a way, [normally] your mind is already on the exit of the corner,” Ricciardo said in an interview with The Race.

“But a lot of the time, it’s like ‘OK, I’m driving in the braking zone’, ‘now I’m driving in the turn-in area’, ‘now I’m driving in the throttle phase’.

“It’s like I’m taking the corner in five steps, when in a way you should approach it like one. But I’m waiting, reacting, and it’s been hard for me to know what I’m going to get by the time I get to the apex.

“And the times where I do try to put the trust in it and not overcomplicate it, I’ll get to the apex, and be like, how the f**k’s that happened? Why am I here? Why is my trajectory that?

Ricciardo said looking into the data left him even more confused as his teammate was able to produce with the same setup, but he couldn’t achieve it.

“Obviously, we have so much data, and I’ll watch Lando’s onboards as well. And I’ll see sometimes what he’s able to do, and I’m just like, ‘OK, I can see it, but I can’t do it’. And I’m like, why won’t it just rotate, or do that?” he said.

“The race pace as well, that’s been one where normally things balance out, if you can’t maybe get the peak in the car in one lap in quali, by the race, it should kind of settle and yet sometimes the race pace I’m like eight tenths a lap slower. And I’m just like, how?

“When you’re not on the limit of the car as well, that’s a bigger concern for me. And even in debriefs, you’ll hear from Lando ‘oh this stint of the race, I could really feel the car was working there, it kind of came alive’ where I’m just like … I never had that feeling.

“At times, I’m just like, something’s up. This isn’t normal. But obviously, we haven’t really got on top of that.”

Ricciardo struggled at McLaren. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images,)

Despite his struggles, Ricciardo refused to put the blame on the team for being unable to get the car to where he’d have preferred.

His admission Norris was able to handle the car better than he was is startling, but Ricciardo puts his younger teammate having his number down to two factors.

“One, I’ll never take credit away from him – the kid’s good. There’s no denying that. And if I say he’s not, then I’m just being a bitter, sore loser.

“The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he’s got no knowledge of racecars, not at all. I think he’s quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view.

“But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. Obviously, there’s been variations of the McLaren. But he hasn’t driven for another team. So in a way he has got, I’m sure, used to some of the elements of this car.”

Ricciardo couldn’t piece it together at McLaren. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Ricciardo will sit out the 2023 season after his McLaren contract was cut short with the team opting to replace him with fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri.

Ricciardo confirmed the news at the Japanese Grand Prix, shortly after Alpine announced they had signed Pierre Gasly who shifted over from AlphaTauri with debutant Nyck De Vries taking his place.

Ricciardo hits pause on his career as the most experienced Australian F1 driver in history, registering 227 starts.

He has claimed eight Grand Prix victories, 32 podiums and three pole positions since making his F1 debut in 2011, making him the 39th mist successful driver in history.

McLaren boss Zak Brown admitted he “hated” having to sack Ricciardo, describing the ordeal as “the toughest thing” he’s experienced in motorsport.

Earlier this year, Brown said his main regret was not putting more “performance protections” in place in Ricciardo’s contract so McLaren could have avoided giving him a whopping payout of more than $20 million.

He also hoped to keep Ricciardo within the wider McLaren stable but Ricciardo wants to remain in F1 and will likely be Mercedes’ reserve driver next season. after he conceded he won’t be on the grid in 2023.

The West Australian is aiming to return to the F1 grid at a competitive team in 2024 but the options will be slim and it’s possible the remaining four races this year could be the last of his career.