It wasn’t the easiest of transitions to McLaren for Daniel Ricciardo last year as he struggled through the first half of the campaign to adapt to the MCL35M. He was thoroughly outperformed by teammate Lando Norris, too.

However, things got better after the summer break as he scored a fantastic victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza; it was his first win since Monaco 2018, his first one for McLaren and the first victory for the team since Brazil 2012.

He backed up that win at Monza with two a fourth place finish at Sochi and two fifth places at COTA and Jeddah respectively. 

The 32-year-old ultimately finished 45 points adrift of Norris in the Drivers' Championship. 

When speaking to MotorLat and other selected media, Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Executive Racing Director, is confident the 8-time Grand Prix winner will make a step forward in performance when the new season kicks off in March. 

“On Daniel's front, I think the progress through the season has been tangible, even if we look at Saudi, and I want to say that because this might have been a low piece of information, but actually he was very quick in qualifying.

“You might remember in Q1, he was P3 and in Q2 there was actually damage on the car from the kerb which took Daniel out of contention. Otherwise, I think his performance in qualifying would have been a very strong throughout, even in Q3.

“We know though that there is more to come with Daniel. In a way, we have a sort of development plan still and I am looking forward to being able to see what we will be able to do next year ['22] with Daniel. I am very optimistic from this point of view.”

Ricciardo is well-known for his bubbly and happy personality, and Stella went on to add that he enjoys working with the Australian.

“And let me just say that working with him is a real pleasure. I think he creates a really nice atmosphere in the team, which is a good foundation for the technical and driving development.”