The humbling changes Ricciardo made to deliver the goods for McLaren
From being lapped by his own team-mate in Monaco to winning at Monza, it’s been a tumultuous first season at McLaren for Daniel Ricciardo. But, as he tells STUART CODLING, there’s more to the story of his turnaround than having a lovely summer holiday during Formula 1's summer break...
Few images encapsulate the first half of Daniel Ricciardo’s eventful 2021 season quite so graphically as the footage of him climbing out of the cockpit after dragging his wounded McLaren to 12th (on the road) in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Or, rather, pausing halfway through the manoeuvre with his head slumped disconsolately against the car’s halo for what seemed like an age.
After two seasons with a Renault team which habitually overpromised and under-delivered, Ricciardo made a high-profile move to McLaren for 2021 which should have provided him with a performance upgrade. And yet, after a relatively bright start in the Bahrain season-opener, disappointment piled upon disappointment as Ricciardo struggled to get to grips with an MCL35M chassis in which understeer is the predominant characteristic.
Share Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.