McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo is upset about fans turning on him this season.
Ricciardo is having a difficult season in orange, and has not been able to perform as well as we know he can. He has been uncomfortable in the car, and hasn’t been able to drive it to its limits. He has also been consistently outperformed by teammate Lando Norris, despite the British driver having the same car as him.
Some fans have been turning on the Australian, saying he seems to have lost it. This has upset Ricciardo, who expressed his unhappiness at how things have changed over six months.
“I’ve been down on myself this year, but that’s not for any external reasons or anything that anyone has said,” Ricciardo said.
“It’s not like F1 is a sport that many people can do, so it doesn’t make outside opinions very valid. People ask if you’ve lost it, whether you’re motivated anymore, that sort of thing. But six months ago, you’d heard people saying I was one of the best drivers of 2020.
“Now, it’s ‘he can’t remember how to drive’. I’m fairly sure things don’t change that dramatically, so you have to see it as noise that you can mute the volume on,” he concluded.
Back to the grind
Ricciardo mentioned that he has put in more effort this season, but he hasn’t been backed by the fans. However, he appreciated his team for believing in him. He promised he would keep it together for the second half of the season.
“I’ve put a lot of effort into the first half of the season, and the team has been very supportive, so I can’t fault them for that,” Ricciardo said.
“At the moment there’s not a ton of reward to show for it, and there’s been times where I’ve not liked my job all that much. But I know it’s never as bad as it seems. I know that if I keep at it in the right way, things will turn for me.”
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