Daniel Ricciardo has arrived at McLaren, after two seasons with Renault, the Australian driver has decided to leave the French to work at Woking. We absolutely all know what the Australian driver is capable of in a good car, and McLaren is sure that its MCL35M will be the right car to close the gap with teams like Mercedes and Red Bull. MotorLat was present at Daniel Ricciardo's press conference prior to the presentation of the car. These were some statements that stood out.

“It’s funny, in terms of experience, I’m certainly the most experienced since it is my eleventh season in F1, but actually in terms of McLaren, Lando is the most experienced one. For sure there are some things I can learn from him, particularly, in the team itself. Every time you have a new teammate is a big opportunity to learn something new, like a driving technique. I’m very open-minded.” Daniel Ricciardo commented.

“With Lando, I think we both have a similar approach to the game, obviously we both love what we do, we enjoy our job I guess. I mean, we have the same approach but also from a different generation. I think I’m 10 years on Lando, so I think it creates quite a good combination.”

When MotorLat asked Daniel, what does he think about Ferrari since they are maybe their biggest threat, Daniel commented: “Looking at last year, there was really a rivalry with most of the mid-field teams, so the battle of kind of fight for the front was getting much more intense. You still got Mercedes which is still the target, but for the rest of us, we’re really trying to close enough that gap. Whether it’s Ferrari or another team, I think it’s going to be close again.”

“Any team having a chance of a podium, if not every team, most of them, we’ll be tight again but hopefully my motivation and experience will help us out.”

“I think Fernando [Alonso] and Carlos [Sainz] will be some really good rivals, both in different teams, but obviously Renault a team that I know very well, and I know they will have a very competitive car with them and Carlos with his new team at Ferrari so, I look forward for all the battles and all the competition.”

Sprint races are a topic that could not be forgotten in this press conference and Daniel Ricciardo shared his thoughts about this type of races or reverse grid formats. “I was very comprehensive. I do feel fed up at the thought of that. Ultimately, if the best guys and the best teams still come out on top and it’s kind of not manipulated or artificial, sort to speak, then I’m less scared of it. Competition is what I love most, so, I would love to do more races and less practice. I think that the biggest thing I want is an F1 win to still feel as big as what it should be.”

Daniel Ricciardo recently said that in McLaren there is a huge chance in order to get success in his career and, ultimately become world champion, he was asked why, this is what he answered: “We don’t have a crystal ball. Leaving Red bull or leaving Renault it’s obviously what I feel is right, do I know 100% how it’s going to turn out? I don’t. I certainly feel that McLaren have done the right things in the last particular years to set themselves up. For this rule changes coming in 2022, I think that kind of era in F1 will benefit us.”

Will Daniel Ricciardo score a podium in his debut season with McLaren? Pre-season testing it’s just a few weeks away and this will be the real chance in order to see the drivers perform in these new cars. Another question is if the MCL35M will perform as expected since this partnership with McLaren and Mercedes has been one of the biggest shocks of the past few years?