Mark Webber thinks Daniel Ricciardo “hasn’t clicked” at McLaren till now.
Ricciardo is currently sitting P8 in the Drivers’ Championship. That is lacklustre given his calibre and his car. It also doesn’t help that he is 48 points behind his teammate and without a points finish in four of the last five races.
This string of performances has cost McLaren big time in the Constructors’ Championship. What once looked like an easy P3 now seems resigned to a meek P4.
The Australian has had a large number of critics throughout this season, with many writing him off. However, even though Webber thinks Ricciardo “hasn’t clicked” at McLaren, he backed him to rediscover his form.
“The winter can’t come soon enough for him to regroup and just work out for him how he’s going to, with McLaren, just unlock a bit more performance for himself,” Webber told AAP, as quoted by Fox Sports Australia.
“You don’t forget how to drive quickly overnight, but for whatever reason he hasn’t clicked at the moment.
“Daniel, when he does, we saw it, it’s in there and when he does he’s very, very special. McLaren would struggle to have someone better for the brand. He’s so good for the sport.
“He had a problem (in Qatar) with the car which would sort of amplify his issues.
Standard issue
The nine-time race winner and retired legend also talked about the Honey Badger’s consistency, and said that he will be the first one to admit his form hasn’t been the best.
“In a technical sport, it’s easy to get brought undone and people don’t understand the full scenario of what’s going on,” he continued.
“But by Daniel’s incredibly high standards – this is a race winner, this is a guy that he’s been on the middle step quite a few times and plenty of podiums – so he knows how to have success at that level.
“By his own admission, of course, it’s been a challenging year for him in this car. Hopefully, he can finish the year with some strong results,” he concluded.
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