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Daniel Ricciardo had a rocky first year with McLaren in the 2021 season but seems to have found the right home for himself in the Woking-based team. Team boss Zak Brown too felt that the second half of the season saw a much more confident driver in Ricciardo. Brown also revealed that the Australian's best quality is the ability to be a great team-mate to everyone in the team, especially Lando Norris.
As reported by GPFans, Brown spoke about Ricciardo:
“The best quality is that he is a great teammate, not just to Lando but to everyone in the garage. He’s very honest. He’s a pleasure to have in the garage and he has had his challenges and he has had to adapt to our car. I think in Monza he showed what he is capable of and that was a dominating performance and then he has had some struggles.”
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He added:
“We have seen a different Daniel in the second part of the season, where he is up to speed and he feels much more confident in the car. So, I’m excited to see in 2022 when it is a fresh start for everyone.”
The 1-2 win at Monza gave the team immense confidence, helping them challenge the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull in 2022. Meanwhile, Lando Norris was visibly leading the team while his teammate was going through the learning curve last season.
"It’s not perfect" - Daniel Ricciardo comments on his confidence in McLaren
As reported by The Race, Daniel Ricciardo claimed that after outqualifying team-mate Lando Norris in the very first race of the 2021 season, the Aussie became overconfident. He then expected the season to go in a very different direction than the way it eventually ended. He had to fight his way back, however, to compete with the Briton who was delivering exceptional races weekend after weekend.
The 32-year-old said:
“A lot of people forget but I actually outqualified Lando the first race of the season. So, for me, I was like, well, it’s only going to get better! So maybe that was bad, because then it was probably even more head-scratching that I was in a way going backwards over the next course of races.”
He went on to add:
“But the second half of the season, it went better. I got the win and confirmed a lot of stuff to myself. I’m happy. I’m happy where things are. It’s not perfect. But I’m happy.”
Despite the struggles, Daniel Ricciardo has now had a year to find his bearings with the team and is expected to return stronger this year.
