Daniel Ricciardo has declared “I’ll f***ing win” should he be given the right F1 car that’s suited to his driving style, unlike his McLaren over the past two years.
Speaking in an in-depth interview with The Race, Ricciardo said he still has plenty of self-belief despite being effectively frozen out of the category for 2023.
The Australian also reflected on his partnership with Lando Norris and why “ignorance is bliss” for the 22-year-old driver who has outshone him.
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In the interview, Ricciardo said he has “weaknesses” that McLaren’s quirky cars have ultimately exposed, leading to him being replaced at the team by Oscar Piastri from next year.
“There is that where it’s humbling,” he told the publication. “I can still work on things and better myself.
“But then the confident part of me is like… but you give me a car to win and I’ll f***ing win!”
Ricciardo considers his stunning win at Monza in 2021 as concrete evidence of his ability to win a Grand Prix when even the smallest window of opportunity presents itself.
Indeed, few of Ricciardo’s eight Grand Prix wins have been straight-forward. Many have come with him starting well off the front row, such as his debut win in Canada in 2014 from sixth on the grid, or when he won from 10th in Azerbaijan in 2017.
Ricciardo said that he still draws “a lot of confidence” from his most recent race win, and believes he will “find a way to win” when it’s a genuine possibility.
Nonetheless, Ricciardo owned up to his shortcomings in the interview, and was particularly candid when reflecting on his partnership with Norris.
Ricciardo arrived at McLaren in 2021 with many expecting him to be the team’s No.1 driver that would lead junior teammate Norris.
But the past two seasons have been the complete opposite with Norris finding ways to adapt to the quirks of the McLaren cars, while Ricciardo has not.
Ricciardo described going through “never-ending steps” at McLaren, regularly being presented with new issues that neither he, or the team, saw coming.
Ricciardo said that some of the process has involved watching on-board laps from Norris to try and learn where he is going wrong, although putting meaningful changes into practice has been difficult.
“The times where I do try to put the trust in it and not overcomplicate it, I’ll get to the apex, and be like, how the f**k’s that happened? Why am I here? Why is my trajectory that?” Ricciardo told The Race.
“Obviously, we have so much data, and I’ll watch Lando’s onboards as well. And I’ll see sometimes what he’s able to do, and I’m just like, ‘OK, I can see it, but I can’t do it’. And I’m like, why won’t it just rotate, or do that?”
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Ricciardo was eager to stress that Norris is a good driver and that part of his dominance has been down to genuine talent.
However, he believes that having never driven for another team has helped, too, while Ricciardo has been shaped by stints at HRT, AlphaTauri, Red Bull and Renault.
“Ignorance is bliss. And I’m not saying he’s got no knowledge of race cars, not at all. I think he’s quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view,” Ricciardo said. “But it’s the only F1 car he’s driven. Obviously, there’s been variations of the McLaren. But he hasn’t driven for another team. So in a way he has got, I’m sure, used to some of the elements of this car.
“Ultimately, he hasn’t been behind the wheel of another car. So obviously, he’s good. And there’s an element of ‘ignorance is bliss’.”
Ricciardo won’t chase a seat at Williams or Haas for 2023 and is set to sit out an entire season.
He still intends on finding a drive for 2024, and could spend next year as a test/reserve driver — potentially at Mercedes.
