Speculation over Ricciardo's future with the team has increased, although he confirmed that he will race for McLaren next year
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Lando Norris thinks Daniel Ricciardo’s troubles at McLaren might be partly related to their dissimilar driving philosophies and preferences for his respective vehicles. Since Ricciardo has had trouble adjusting to the MCL36 so far in 2022, Norris has generally outperformed his McLaren teammate. Due to his poor performance this year, speculation over Ricciardo’s future with the team has increased, although he confirmed that he will race for McLaren next year in accordance with his contract.
Norris has been able to master the car more quickly than his teammate, and he acknowledged it took him some time to adjust on his side of the garage. However, he went on to explain how the two drivers’ inherent driving styles are different. “I struggled at the beginning of the season probably with my driving style a bit more than what Daniel struggled with initially in the first few tests, and I feel like I had to adapt quite a bit.”
“Some of my feelings are not translated to his feelings. And how we drive the cars is slightly different as well; I prefer a car with – I don’t mind as much instability from the car and kind of can push on the fronts more, and he prefers a car that is a bit more stable and made with a little more understeer.” explained the young Mclaren driver.
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Norris noted that the McLaren this year is a challenging vehicle to drive well and that adjustments must be made in order to maximize the vehicle’s capabilities. “I do feel like it’s a difficult car to drive, our car. You know, I think our characteristics which he’s also had over the past few years, even Carlos [Sainz] said it, they’re quite specific and unique so some of the driving styles you need are like not ones you kind of grow up learning, and therefore you have to adapt quite a bit.”
“Especially this year, the car’s very different, and some of the characteristics of last year are gone and we’ve introduced some other characteristics, so I’ve had to change my driving style. At the same time, I’ve also had to adapt to it. It’s not just because I’ve been with McLaren for four years that I know this car inside-out.” expressed Norris.
