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McLaren does not expect to fight for world titles when the lights go out for the upcoming F1 2022 season.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown spoke to Gulf Business during a post-season interview where he admitted his team is still playing catch-up when compared to the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. He said:
“Of course, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got but we still have a couple of years of technical catch-up that we just can’t accelerate any further or faster than we are. We still have technical infrastructure that we’re catching up on, most notably our wind tunnel. I’m not going into next year [2022] thinking we’re going to be a championship contender.”
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McLaren finished last season with a P4 in the constructors' world championship standings with 275 points to their name. In comparison, Ferrari, who finished with P3, had 323.5 points.
The British outfit were the only ones to score a one-two finish in 2021 with Daniel Ricciardo winning the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Team-mate Lando Norris picked up a P2 in the race after both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen crashed out of contention.
The new regulatory changes set to be implemented in F1 when the 2022 season starts could have a huge say in how McLaren's future shapes up. Reports indicate Brown and Co. have been 'cautiously optimistic' about their chances in 2022.
McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo feels he must 'drive better' on 'bad days' if he is to even mount title challenge
Daniel Ricciardo feels he must 'drive better' on days that are 'bad' or 'difficult' if he wants to become an F1 world champion.
The 32-year-old has won eight F1 races in his career and has a total of 32 podiums in the sport. Despite that, he has never finished higher than P3 in the drivers' world championship standings.
The Australian spoke about his hopes of becoming a world champion during a post-season interview with GPFans. Ricciardo said:
“Unless the car changes from a characteristic point of view, I am going to have to still improve some of my weaknesses. That’s reality. If I want to be in a title fight, I’ve got to still drive this car better on the, call it the bad days or the days that are a bit more difficult.”
Ricciardo's 2021 win at Monza was his first since clinching victory at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull. He was consistently outperformed by team-mate Lando Norris last season. Ricciardo finished the season in P8 with 115 points, while Norris ended his campaign in P6 with 160 points.
