Daniel Ricciardo shouldn’t look to Lando Norris for “sympathy” as he admits frustrations adapting to McLaren are “getting old”.
After a better weekend in Spain, the Australian had a nightmare in Monaco, finishing almost a second slower than his teammate in qualifying before being lapped by Lando during the race.
And while most drivers in new cars have struggled more so far in 2021, Ricciardo’s situation is particularly difficult.
“I think, for whatever reason, naturally at the moment the car isn’t quite coming to me,” he told Sky Sports.
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“I bumped into Carlos [Sainz] not too long ago. He was like ‘what do you think, strange huh?’ And I was like ‘thanks for telling me!’
“I feel there is a bit of a characteristic with this car that, let’s say, is a bit strange. Generally, you’ve got a window to work in and you can play inside that area and be fairly okay.
“At the moment, this one is just a very small window and therefore it’s quite easy to make mistakes or do something the car doesn’t respond well to.
“I don’t want to keep talking about it because it’s getting old, but I guess it’s tricky.”
Ricciardo and McLaren have continued to work away at his problems, including a simulator session focused on why he struggled so much in Monte Carlo.
But asked about Daniel’s strife, Norris conceded it wasn’t his problem to worry about.
“I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t have sympathy,” he said recently.
“At the end of the day, it was his decision to come to McLaren. It is the decision of any driver to go to a different team and it is up to him to do a good job.
“I have massive respect for him and learned a lot from him already,” he added on Channel 4.
“Even though it’s taking him time to adjust to something, there are a lot of things he’s really good at that I’ve already been able to learn from and use for myself.
“So he’s an incredible driver, I see why he’s so good, and at times he’s already shown that. But yes, he’s still just taking his time to get up to speed.”
And when Ricciardo does finally get on top of the McLaren, Lando is well aware his early advantage over the ‘Honey Badger’ may not last.
“I try to help him when I can and we are still teammates at the end of the day,” Norris acknowledged.
“I’m not taking it for granted because I know sooner or later he will just click and be fast, and everyone will be like ‘oh, I told you so’.
“But I’m ready for it. I’m not doubting, thinking he’s not.”
