Daniel Ricciardo rates his 2021 season at 'an average of 5.5’

Daniel Ricciardo rated his maiden season with the McLaren F1 team at a meager 5.5 on a scale of 1-10. The Australian believes he could not suit his driving style to the car, which made it harder for him to extract the optimal performance throughout 2021.

Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Daniel Ricciardo rated his 2021 season and said:

“I’ll give you a number... I give myself a 4 for the first part of the season and a 7 for the second part. That makes an average of 5.5.”

The Australian driver rated his difficult first half of the season significantly lower than the second half of the season. Although he believes he worked hard to get accustomed to his new office, Ricciardo was not satisfied with his 2021 season.

Describing the difficulties adjusting to the car, the Australian said:

“The truth is that the car doesn’t allow me to do what I think naturally suits my driving style. The way I want to attack the corner causes me a few problems with the car. I have to drive slightly differently and that’s not my natural way. Sometimes I succeed, but sometimes it was more difficult for me to implement it.”

Explaining the adjustment issues with the new car, Ricciardo believes it was difficult to extract optimal performance from the tools available, given his unique driving style. The Australian explained that he had to tweak his skill set to extract the maximum performance from the McLaren car, which made his 2021 season a difficult one.

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Daniel Ricciardo reveals satisfaction in working with McLaren F1 team

Describing his relationship with his team through a difficult maiden season, Daniel Ricciardo revealed he was satisfied with the support he received within the team. Although he regrets not being able to perform at his best, the Australian believes he is well settled in his new team.

Explaining his relationship with McLaren, Ricciardo said:

“So the first half of the season was probably even more frustrating because I really like the environment and I have a good relationship with the team. Everything other than the stopwatch was pretty good, but obviously I just wasn’t giving them what I wanted to give. That was hard. But moments like Monza, even Austin... Austin was a good weekend for me too. These weekends are so much cooler because I really get along with the team. I like their way of doing racing.”

The Australian was consistently outscored and outperformed by his younger team-mate Lando Norris. Despite the win at Monza, Ricciardo was unable to contribute to the team's effort with any consistent performances. Ricciardo’s inconsistent performances in 2021 did not aid McLaren as the Woking-based outfit was trounced by Ferrari to third place in the constructors’ championship.