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Daniel Ricciardo has been labeled a 'small disappointment' on the whole in the recently concluded F1 2021 season by Stoffel Vandoorne.
Vandoorne is a former F1 driver with two seasons at McLaren. The Belgian is currently a test driver for Mercedes. He also races for Mercedes' Formula E team alongside Nyck de Vries.
Speaking to Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Vandoorne had this to say about Ricciardo's maiden season with his former team:
“If I have to point to one small disappointment about the season, I would almost say Daniel Ricciardo.”
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Vandoorne did acknowledge the Australian's win in Monza but after weighing his season on a whole he said:
“It’s true that he won at Monza, but in general he was a little bit behind Lando Norris, whereas he is usually the leader in the teams he drives for. If you take away his win in Italy, 2021 is a bit of a difficult season for Daniel.”
Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren in 2021, moving from Renault after a difficult two-year spell with the French outfit. However, 2021 was far from easy for the 32-year-old from Perth.
Ricciardo's win at Monza was his only podium of the season. He was out-qualified 15-7 by his team-mate Lando Norris over the course of 2021. The Australian finished the year P8 in the drivers' championship with 115 points. Norris, on the other hand, ended up P6 with 160 points to his name.
Daniel Ricciardo had a tough time adapting to the McLaren with its new Mercedes engine for the majority of the 2021 season. With regulatory changes set to come in for the 2022 season, it remains to be seen how quickly he can adapt to the new car.
Daniel Ricciardo's 2021 Monza win predicted by Pierre Gasly
Daniel Ricciardo's return to the top step of the podium in 2021 was foretold by Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly.
Gasly won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in dramatic fashion in 2020. Both Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo are products of the Red Bull Junior Team helmed by Dr. Helmut Marko.
In a video posted by F1 on their social media channels, the Frenchman can be seen correctly predicting a win for Daniel Ricciardo's future at the start of the season. Watch it here:
Gasly himself suffered a DNF at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix as Ricciardo picked up the eighth win of his career. It was also the Australian's first win in F1 since coming out on top at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull.
