Daniel Ricciardo finally appears to be understanding his McLaren after a “much, much better” Saturday at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Australian ouqualified teammate Lando Norris for the third time this season in seventh, perhaps benefitting from the Briton having his session disrupted by Nikita Mazepin in Q1.
Even so, after a season that has so far seen Ricciardo outclassed by Norris on race day, the stars might just be aligning for the former Red Bull and Renault driver to show the speed he’s capable of at McLaren.
“The narrative for sure has been that it’s taken time to get up to speed and also I think Lando has been driving exceptionally well. So these two factors have been challenging, I guess,” the ‘Honey Badger’ told Sky Sports.
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“It’s certainly a more positive day and in saying that, there’s still a little bit of what could have been because we missed the last run [in Q3].
“It was a little bit of a Monza scenario a couple of years ago and we ran out of time.
“There was a tenth or so to fourth, and I think a tenth is always there, but nonetheless it was a much, much better day and happier even from yesterday and obviously a week ago. But progress: progress means positivity!”
Asked where the main improvements had come from to help his feeling in the McLaren, Ricciardo explained…
“Probably the set-up, which then allowed me to drive better and more confidently.
“The car was tricky yesterday. I just didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in the high-speed stuff, to be honest.
“So I think that showed today. I think in sector one we were pretty quick, I went purple a few times.
“Once you get into [turn] one, you pretty much just jump on the throttle and hold on and so I certainly had the confidence to hold on to it today.
“We brought some updates and I think basically, we improved the set-up to make the updates work today. So that was probably when we found the pace,” Ricciardo added.
“There are still some corners on track which I’m still finding my way [at], so to speak. So it’s a mini breakthrough, let’s say that.”