McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has had a far from satisfactory start to his stint with the outfit. There were a lot of expectations from the Australian after his impressive campaign with Renault.
After five disappointing races this season, the man is yet to get comfortable with his car.
What is surprising is that his younger and less experienced teammate Lando Norris has been a league ahead of Ricciardo.
Jacques Villeneuve offers his two cents
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has some tips for the Australian that can turn the game around for him.
Considering Norris’ performances, the team has their focus centered around him.
Villeneuve believes that Ricciardo needs to become more authoritative so that there is a shift in focus towards him.
He can do this by playing mind games to psychologically hurt his teammate.
What did Villeneuve say?
Villeneuve said, “You have to work hard inside the team, with the engineers, trying to get some changes made to the car to help you but also damage your teammate. That’s the key of the game.
“It’s awful, but you have to start playing the political game inside of the team when it’s like this. He’s too far from Lando right now.”
Ricciardo has been very vocal about how he is facing a tough time adapting to the McLaren MCL35-M. His latest race in Monaco was a difficult one for him.
The ex-Red Bull driver had a mortifying Q2 exit during the qualifying which led him to start the race from P12. Norris, on the other hand, started from P5.
Source: https://www.planetf1.com/
Monaco is a tough hunting ground
The Monaco circuit, due to its narrow lanes, makes it difficult to overtake. As a result, Ricciardo was stuck behind Kimi Raikkonen for the major chunk of the race.
Considering his pace, he deserved to be in the top 10. However, due to a severe lack of opportunities, the Australian had to make do with a P12 finish.
Another embarrassing aspect of the race was when Norris lapped Ricciardo and went on to attain a podium finish. Ricciardo has fond memories of this particular circuit, especially when he won back in 2018.
But this particular race will be etched into his mind for a while as he can only hope for the Grand Prix in Baku to come sooner.
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