F1 | Ricciardo on his first half season at McLaren: “the first time I’ve consistently found it difficult”
The 2021 season has been the toughest one so far for Daniel Ricciardo, as he is struggling more than ever before.
McLaren is battling to claim the third position in the Constructors' Championship for the second year in a row. The team finished behind Mercedes and Red Bull last season and is currently standing third alongside Ferrari. Out of the 163 points the team has scored so far, 113 come from Lando Norris’ MCL35M. The Brit had an impressive first half this season, that saw him step on the podium 3 times already. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, is finding it quite challenging to adapt at McLaren.
“Definitely, definitely harder,” he said talking about his season so far, in an interview with Speedcafe.com. “I think it’s the first time I’ve consistently found it difficult.”
Ricciardo will race for the 200th time in Spa at the end of the summer break, 10 years after his F1 debut. His first race was back in 2011 at the British GP, after that he raced two years for Toro Rosso, before joining Red Bull in 2014. In that same year, he claimed his very first F1 win at the Canadian GP and finished third in the Driver Championship. He left Milton Keynes in 2019 to join Renault (now Alpine) and this year he switched teams to fill in Carlos Sainz’s seat at McLaren.
“For sure over the years you have bad weekends, and even you might have two bad ones on a trot, but then you kind of get it right where I feel like it’s been definitely more bad, or more or less impressive than good.”
His best finishing position in this first half of 2021 was a 5th place in Silverstone, while he stayed out of the points in Monza, Styria and Hungary.
“That’s obviously been not always easy to take, but it is what it is. I think sometimes as well, you’ve got to realise and remember that I’m in the elite level of the sport,” he reflected. “It shouldn’t be easy.”
“So yeah, I’m struggling more than I have before but it’s probably for a reason as well,” Ricciardo commented. “I am against the best guys, so I’ve just got to lift my game and figure it out.”
We can only wait and see how things will play out for him in the second half of the season.
