Daniel Ricciardo has had an average start to the season, scoring a sixth and a seventh-place finish. However, his partner Lando Norris has performed significantly better, proving that a lot more can be extracted from their cars.
Former driver and fellow Australian Alan Jones has words of wisdom for Ricciardo.
Jones was asked what Ricciardo should do to stay a step ahead of Norris. He delivered a highly critical answer, stating that Ricciardo needs to keep his head up in the game.
“I think Daniel should start concentrating a bit more in the cockpit rather than outside. In my opinion, Daniel is becoming a little preoccupied verbally with things going on outside the car rather than in it,” Jones said.
Ricciardo had a relatively good start of his career with McLaren. But he was beaten by Lando Norris twice in two races.
Norris was so much better than the Australian that the latter had to give up his spot at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after a team order. This was because the Brit was a lot faster.
When Jones said that Ricciardo should stop focusing on outside things, he was talking about how the driver was highly critical about the endless replays of crashes of Romain Grosjean in 2020.
“I think Daniel has really got to pull his socks up a bit. I think Lando is going to show him up this year if he is not careful,” Jones concluded.
The part that raises questions is that Ricciardo’s teammate Norris is himself very outspoken. He is even a regular streamer on Twitch.
Does this seem to show that the Brit is as distracted as Ricciardo? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Read More: “I don’t want to create friction”: Ricciardo discusses why he did not argue against team orders