"You could say it evened itself out" - Daniel Ricciardo has 'full trust' in McLaren strategy after Baku team orders

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were subject to rather unwelcome team orders during the Azerbaijan GP. Earlier in the race, when Daniel Ricciardo was on hard tires, he closed in on teammate Lando Norris on medium tires. It did not amount to much as the Australian was ordered to hold station and not make a move on Norris. Later in the race, the same thing happened to the young Briton as he was told to hold position behind Ricciardo.

In the end, it was a strong weekend for Daniel Ricciardo as he scored valuable points and outscored his teammate. During the drivers' press conference, Ricciardo was asked if he was fine with the use of team orders at the time. The Australian replied:

“Yeah, I mean, in the end, it was, simply putting it, I had the orders early in the race, and then Lando [Norris] had them at the end, so you could say it evened itself out. I think in the moment, in the race, if you’re the attacking car, you obviously want to charge through, and try and try and get on with it.”

He added:

“But these are also things that we talk about in strategy meetings, things like this. We’re aware that this could happen during the race and also, in my experience now, like full trust in pit-wall. And they see the big picture of how the race is progressing, I guess. So, yeah, it all worked out alright in the end.”

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Daniel Ricciardo: The result in Baku was very encouraging!

Daniel Ricciardo's future in the team and the sport was questioned by many after he had another disappointing race in Monaco. The Australian admitted that the result in Baku was encouraging for him and should be a stepping stone to better things in the near future. He said:

“It’s definitely a better weekend. I think it was certainly smoother. I think it was good just to see how we came out of Monaco and the work that was done since Monaco, we really kind-of translated well onto the track. And everything we felt like we’d found or understood, I think we certainly showed that, or at least good signs of that, on track in Baku.”

He continued:

“It’s also not an easy circuit as well, obviously, with the nature of it, low downforce street circuit. So, to have a solid weekend there was encouraging.”

Daniel Ricciardo's return to form could prove to be good news for McLaren as the team struggles to consolidate its fourth place in the championship.