It’s just a matter of few more races before Daniel Ricciardo will be up and running with his challenge for a podium finish, McLaren boss Andreas Seidl said while responding to the former’s struggles with the Mclaren car.
“We know it is not just straightforward to jump from one car into another one, and only have one and half days of testing,” Seidl said.
“And we have seen from other drivers, all these drivers are very talented and have a lot of experience, and they adapt very quickly and straightaway.
“But these cars are complex, and to find these last two, three, four, tenths, but also make the difference when how comfortable they are to push these cars to the limit, that is not straightforward to find and get out of these cars.
“That takes time. It is not a surprise.
“It is part of the process of integrating a new driver, and with the experience Daniel has, in the experience we have within the team, it is just a matter of a few more race weekends before Daniel is fully comfortable in our car.”
The statement came after Daniel Ricciardo made revelations about his struggles with the new Mclaren car during the race events at Bahrain and Imola.
Daniel Ricciardo got asked to allow his junior teammate to overtake him in Imola
Credits : Getty Images
The Australian finished seventh and sixth respectively in both the races. Furthermore, his junior teammate Lando Norris outperformed him by grabbing the fourth and third spots at Bahrain and Imola respectively.
Adding more salt to his wounds, Ricciardo did allow his junior teammate to overtake him during the Imola Grand Prix, as per the team’s instructions.
Regardless, he is not the only one who is facing issues with the newer surroundings. Almost every driver that switched teams recently has witnessed such troubles during the initial phases.
However, we cannot blame Ricciardo for the whole drama. While having only three days of the pre-season testing split between himself and Norris before the Bahrain Grand Prix, he didn’t get the required time to adapt to the new car.
Nevertheless, both Ricciardo and Mclaren would look to improve as the attention now heads to the Portuguese Grand Prix next month.
