Daniel Ricciardo says he won’t “succumb” to his difficult start to life at McLaren.
After an impressive 2020 at Renault, there were high hopes the Australian would continue that form following his move to the Woking-based team.
However, instead, Ricciardo has struggled to adapt to the different characteristics of the MCL35M, with even McLaren boss Andreas Seidl showing his first sign of frustration.
“I don’t think he imagined it would be so difficult to change teams,” he told German broadcaster RTL.
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“He’s disappointed and so are we because we thought the transition would be faster. But I am still convinced that at some point it will click with him.”
Ricciardo has highlighted braking and cornering as the two main areas where he is still unable to find the limit despite efforts to adjust his driving style, something he didn’t have to do when he moved from Red Bull to Renault.
But as a result, it has left him trailing teammate Lando Norris by a substantial margin both in the championship and on the track.
“I feel like it’s obviously for whatever reason been a very unexpected and difficult season so far, just from a pace point of view,” Ricciardo told Motorsport.com.
“I guess the easiest way for me to kind of move forward is to accept that. Did I expect more? Absolutely.
“But I think if I every weekend go into it now expecting to be quicker than Lando, or whatever it is, I’m probably just going to end up resenting the sport because clearly, it’s going to take a bit more.
“Clearly there’s something that is missing. I feel good in the car, especially the last three weeks, it’s felt better,” he admitted.
“I don’t want to say, what’s the word, wave the white flag, or succumb to whatever it is, I’m just going to not really focus or lose too much energy on that, and just accept that he’s driving very well.
“The aim is to obviously get closer, and help the team out as well.”
There has been one area where Ricciardo has been strong, however, and he hopes this weekend’s Sprint Qualifying format at Silverstone can help him maximise it.
“The way my starts have been, the last three races, I think I’ve made a minimum of two places every first lap,” he explained.
“So having a Sprint Qualifying actually means I’ll probably start further up the grid on Sunday! So I’m happy to have two race starts.
“I think probably you have to treat it like a race. If you’re being complacent then ultimately you’re going to start Sunday further back, and then you’re going to take all the risk on Sunday, and maybe risk the front wing then.
“So I would say right now the mindset would be just a normal approach, try to attack when possible and make the most of it.”