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Daniel Ricciardo has not had the best of starts to the 2022 F1 season. The Australian has 11 points in his kitty compared to the 39 points for his teammate Lando Norris. What was slightly surprising this time around was team boss Zak Brown recently admitting that the Australian's performance levels have been below expectations ever since he joined McLaren.
In the drivers' press conference, Ricciardo was questioned about his team boss' comments. Instead of skirting the issue or beating around the bush, the Australian took it head-on and admitted that the performance levels he expects from himself have not matched what he has put out during his stay with the team.
There was, however, a tinge of steely determination in Ricciardo's voice as he mentioned that he was probably his biggest critic, and Brown making those comments didn't change much for him. He said:
“Well, it’s not false. It’s pretty true. It’s something that… well, firstly, comments like that I don’t take personally. My skin is tanned, beautiful, and also thick. But it’s… yeah… no one’s going to be harder on me than myself. I know that I don’t want to be racing around in 10th, 12th places. I still believe I can be at the front, and belong at the front. So, it’s been a little bit more, certainly testing at times, in terms of obviously trying to get up and maximise myself in this car. But yeah, we’re working together hard at it. And the team wants it, I want it and we’re just working through it.”
Daniel Ricciardo's weekend starts with a massive crash in FP2
Daniel Ricciardo's Monaco GP weekend did not have the best of starts. After an impressive FP1 for McLaren, where Lando Norris was P5 and Ricciardo was P7, the Australian suffered a major crash on his very first push lap.
The car suffered major damage with the Australian ending up in the wall. He was forced to sit out the rest of the session as the car could not be repaired in time.
McLaren appears to be competitive in the tight and twisty corners of Monaco, with Norris putting together a lap good enough for P5 on the timesheets. Will Ricciardo be able to match those performance levels here? It would be worth keeping an eye on!
