Daniel Ricciardo would like to forget about his outing at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. The Australian started the race at P14 because of a gearshift issue that kept him in the garage for too long in Q2. After the poor and rushed qualifying, Daniel’s luck worsened at the Miami race. He crossed the finish line at 11th but was declared 13th after picking up a five-second penalty.
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Stewards gave him the five-second penalty because all the four tires of his MCL36 crossed the track limits at turn 12. It seems that the oncoming Kevin Magnussen of the Haas F1 team forced this error. Daniel finished 13th as his teammate Lando Norris did not finish the race after colliding with Pierre Gasly. Meaning no points for Mclaren at the Miami Grand Prix.
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Apart from the Australian Grand Prix, Ricciardo has finished none of the races in the top ten. A pattern he would soon like to change. Ricciardo is currently on a contract that keeps him at Mclaren until the end of 2023. But The Honey Badger is an ambitious driver and the poor results will soon become a frustrating aspect for him.
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The gearshift issue did not help Ricciardo’s case, which resulted in a poor Q2 and eventual P14 on the starting grid. And the blame for the poor run in form is partly on the MCL36. Even after significant upgrades from Bahrain, the Mclaren car is still not as quick as the competition. This is something the team needs to address if they would like to finish in points in the upcoming races.
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Daniel Ricciardo hopeful for the Spanish Grand Prix
However, staying hopeful and looking on towards the next race, Daniel commented on the Spanish GP, “Barcelona, everyone will have a few updates, hopefully, ours sprinkle a little more juice on it than others and we’ll come back again. Barcelona should suit us a bit more, so I’m looking forward to that.”
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DECEMBER 14: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and McLaren F1 prepares to drive in the garage during Formula 1 testing at Yas Marina Circuit on December 14, 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted the drivers for pre-season testing in February. And Mclaren looked in good shape around the circuit. Let’s see if they can keep it up at the race next in a couple of weeks’ time.
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