“He needs to have a restart” - Former world champion explains reason for Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren struggles

Daniel Ricciardo's issues at McLaren could be down to the Australian not being able to brake and turn in simultaneously, according to former F1 world champion Jenson Button.

Jenson Button is a former McLaren driver who is most famous for winning the 2009 F1 World championship with Brawn GP (present-day Mercedes).

Daniel Ricciardo's F1 career began with Scuderia Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2013 before being moved up to Red Bull a year later, where he raced till the end of the 2018 campaign.

The 33-year-old chose to leave for Renault in 2019 in what many considered to be a bad move for him. Since then, Daniel Ricciardo's career trajectory has not reflected the early promise he showed while rising through the ranks to F1.

The Australian joined McLaren at the start of 2021 with lofty ambitions but was never able to become truly comfortable at the team. He will leave the Woking-based outfit at the end of the season, one year before his contract with the outfit is set to lapse.

Button is of the impression that Daniel Ricciardo's inability to perform with McLaren could be due to his lack of adaptability to the team's car concept. While on commentary duty during the ongoing 2022 F1 Dutch GP weekend, the Briton weighed in on Ricciardo's struggles. He said:

“It’s a change of regulations this year with the aerodynamic package of the car, mostly. But it’s still a McLaren. And they have a way of designing the car. I think what Daniel [Ricciardo] still struggles with is you can’t brake and turn in with the McLaren. Whereas he was very used to that previously, where you can brake and turn into a corner while still braking.”

Button elaborated by adding:

“With a McLaren, you have to brake in a straight line, off the brakes, turn in. I think he really struggles with that. Because if you’re braking and turning in, you’re gonna lock the inside front with a McLaren and slide off the circuit. So it’s just not working to his strengths and it feels like he needs to have a restart. We know he can be competitive. He’s a race winner and it’s not like it was 10 years ago!”

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Daniel Ricciardo not ruling out 2023 move to Alpine just yet

Daniel Ricciardo is not ruling out a return to Alpine but has admitted that his future moves will be determined solely by the ability to be competitive.

The Honey Badger is having a season to forget thus far in 2022. Ricciardo has scored a total of 19 points in 14 rounds of racing this year, and his best result was a P6 finish at the 2022 F1 Australian GP.

While McLaren did offer Daniel Ricciardo the chance to drive for them in other disciplines, the Australian has his heart set on F1 and wants to remain in the series next year.

When asked if he had thought of replacing the outgoing Fernando Alonso at Alpine, which was Renault in his time, Ricciardo admitted he had considered it. In an interview with Sky Sports F1 ahead of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, Ricciardo said:

“I think how it ended, yes. It was tough because we made the announcement before racing had even started that year and it was COVID and there was a lot going on. So for sure, it was a little bit… awkward is probably the right word for it, but I think once we went racing and once we had the year we had, I think everyone saw that I was dedicated to making the most of that year. But yeah, time will tell, we’ll see what feels right and is right.”

Meanwhile, McLaren have confirmed that reigning F2 world champion Oscar Piastri will be driving alongside Lando Norris next year to create the youngest driver line-up on the grid. To put it into context, neither Piastri nor Norris were even born when McLaren last won the F1 Constructors' World championship back in 1998.