Why '5/10' Ricciardo isn't giving up on his McLaren quest

“Oh, don’t make me do that!”

In a routine McLaren interview with selected members of the media, Daniel Ricciardo is asked to give himself a grade for his performances this season.

“From an on-track point of view, like a results point of view, I wouldn't give myself too much of a flattering grade,” he says. “But I don't want to say what I think! Because that just makes me sound pretty shit.”

After eight races, Ricciardo is ninth in the drivers’ standings. He has finished sixth three times, but never higher. In qualifying, he’s been knocked out in Q2 on three occasions, and in Portugal didn’t even make it past Q1. Most importantly, he has less than half the points scored by team-mate Lando Norris, who in 2021 has done everything to make Ricciardo’s difficult adaptation as glaring as possible.

“On a more positive, on like an off-track grade, I'll definitely give myself a nine,” he says. “Definitely, the results aren't through a lack of trying. And I certainly feel like I've put in the work.

“I think it will eventually come to fruition, and it will show. But so far the on-track stuff, I don't know… call it a five out of ten. I'm certainly wanting to improve that.”

The start of the 2021 season has been difficult for every driver who’s changed teams. But it bears admitting that Ricciardo’s struggles are more notable. Sergio Perez has already won a race (admittedly in fortuitous circumstances) for Red Bull, Carlos Sainz Jr is close to Charles Leclerc’s points total at Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel is having his renaissance at Aston Martin, and even Fernando Alonso after two years away is now regularly beating Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

These guys no longer need to find the words to talk about adaptation, a lack of mileage in pre-season testing and car specifics. They are facing fewer questions of that nature. But not Ricciardo.

“I've been trying to use different kinds of analogies to explain to – without being rude – the outside world, to try and get the words across,” he says. “Ultimately, yes, I've been driving F1 for a few years and all the cars are… they're not the same, but it's the same category at least.

“But with some of the way the car is at the moment, some of the quirks and the way it likes to be driven, I'm basically trying to get good at kick a ball with my left foot. My instinct is obviously kick a ball with my right foot, that's easy. But now to really perfect this car, I'm trying to now learn how to kick with my left. That's maybe a good analogy.”

"Adapting to the Renault, I was still able to adapt with a similar driving style or something that was more natural for me. Yeah, the car felt different, but I could still approach it with the same style. Where this one now, currently the car feels different" Daniel Ricciardo

Even if it is a good analogy, you’d think a driver of Ricciardo’s race-winning calibre should have already figured out that left-foot kick – and he too is keenly aware that it’s not a process that can go on forever.

“Once you can kind of balance it on this nice little knife edge, the car can certainly be quick,” he explains. “And I think that's probably another way of putting it as well, is that it does have a bit of a sweet spot, but it is just quite small. And obviously, if you're outside of it, then you're not getting the performance.

“Even Lando is saying the car is quite different this year. And, you know, the tyres have changed, and most drivers seem to be commenting about that. And now the floors are narrower at the rear. So there's some changes as well, which maybe even if I was still in Renault or Alpine this year, maybe there would be some similar kind of comments or difficulties.

“But I've got to a point now where I'm also trying not to fill my head with it. It is different, sure. But it can't be different forever. At some point, this is it, this is the car I’ve got, and ‘different’ needs to become ‘normal’ and get on with it.”

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

Ricciardo’s difficulties are made more curious by the fact that two years ago he’d already switched teams, and his adaptation from Red Bull to Renault had proved much smoother. But with McLaren it’s a different situation, he insists.

“I think, going into a new team, you're always going to have to find or adapt to something,” he says. “And I would say adapting to the Renault, I was still able to adapt with a similar driving style or something that was more natural for me. Yeah, the car felt different, but I could still approach it with the same style.

“Where this one now, currently the car feels different. I think the Renault, there was some adaptation but also I could still kind of use my style, call it instinct. Where the McLaren, it's a little more detailed than that, I guess. I look at it as a positive as well, like in the long run if I can learn how to drive with a different style, then I have more tools in my arsenal.”

The faster “different becomes normal” for Ricciardo, the better for McLaren. The team is currently fighting with Ferrari for third place in the constructors’ standings and needs a strong Ricciardo to hold onto the position it claimed last year.

“I told them, 'I'll be half a second quicker,'” he laughs when responding to a question about whether his expectations of McLaren have matched reality – perhaps hinting that, if there is a side that hasn’t had its expectations met, it’s McLaren itself.

Yet Ricciardo’s broad smile suggests that, for his part, he is satisfied.

“I think, from a team feeling and environment, like I'm very, very, very happy”, he says. “I would love to think that they are also happy.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“It’s just now really sorting the on-track stuff, and getting, obviously, the stopwatch going. I think we're in a position now where, yes, currently I need to drive this car better. But I think we also don't want to lose, let's call it my strengths and what got me to this position.

“There's also the two-way street of me continuously giving feedback to the team about, 'Okay, what you guys can do better to help me’. They're obviously trying to help me drive the current car, but I'm trying to help them get the car to obviously a happier place [so] that it's not like, you know, [me] overthinking every corner and trying to be with this style here and this style there, ultimately to get to a place where we can drive naturally.

“I think when you're free, that's normally when the lap time comes, so it's a two-way process now. The team has been great, and I want to give them more, absolutely. But I think they also understand that it's a journey. I signed a three-year contract with them. We'd love to have fireworks already, but we know that we've got time on our side to get it right, and go through the process properly.

“I think with McLaren, there's a lot of things I love. They tick every box, and there's always follow-ups. If I ask a question, if they can't answer it immediately, then, you know, I'll be sure to get a phone call or an email or something.

"Although my score says ‘call it a five’ – and it's what it is now – I am uberconfident that increases as the year goes on. So panic not, my friends" Daniel Ricciardo

“And they're also very open-minded. There is some new faces in the team. But there's also some people who have been at McLaren for years and years, but they're also not holding on to the world championships from however long ago, they're constantly trying to be better, evolve, stay with the times. The mindset creates a really nice energy in the team and that's really cool.”

There’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Ricciardo enjoyed a strong drive to sixth in the French Grand Prix, pulling off some striking overtakes, while in last weekend's Styrian Grand Prix he could have finished higher than his eventual 13th without a short-lived loss of power that led to him allowing four rivals through on the seventh lap. And, all in all, Ricciardo did score six times in the first eight races of the season.

“It's funny, because I look at Bahrain and I outqualified Lando,” he points out. “I think I was the only new driver to do it, you know, in the new team. So it's funny, you look at race one, you're like, 'oh, well this is, you know, a 10 out of 10'.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

“But currently, it's probably been a bit of unfamiliar territory. Because normally, especially like qualifying, when I need to pull the trigger, so to speak, I can find the lap time – I don't want to say easily – but relatively comfortable. And it's certainly taking a bit more probably just conscious effort at the moment, so that's where it's been a bit more challenging. But yeah, although my score says ‘call it a five’ – and it's what it is now – I am uberconfident that increases as the year goes on.

“So panic not, my friends.”

In the end, Ricciardo simply has no choice. Whatever it takes, he needs to make it work with McLaren, as it’s probably his last chance to go for the title, even if right now it looks like a long shot. Mercedes and Ferrari didn’t make a play for his services when he was a free agent, and there’s probably no way back to Red Bull either.

If Ricciardo still wants to win the title, he’s got to do it with McLaren. And having just turned 32, he hasn’t got that much time left either.

“I think it was Monaco 2016, where I was talking about my age,” he says. “Now that I've got older, I’m in my 30s, I think the reality is I'll be in this for as long as I want, in terms of the age. At least for now it isn't going to slow me down, not in the next few years.

“If I'm still hungry and determined, I can keep that window open for the title. I'm aware now [a chance] to win five titles is becoming slimmer and slimmer. But still to win one, I think there's time on my side.

“The McLaren one is certainly where my ambition is. And I definitely want to see this one through hopefully with a lot of success.”

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images