McLaren F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo says both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have the potential to win the World Drivers Championship (WDC) at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ricciardo, who has ridden wheel-to-wheel with both Hamilton and Verstappen over the years, said it was too close to speak between the two title contenders.
When asked who he thinks is the WDC favorite, Daniel Ricciardo told Will Buxton:
“I don’t know. I’ll be honest. A couple of weeks ago I thought I think Max and then I thought maybe Lewis. Right now I don’t know. It really depends on this weekend. And I know when people Hear that, yes, of course it does. But no, it’s the next 72 hours. Whoever does better in practice, better tunes the car, gets into the best position, and then prepares for qualifying and then for the race being that makes it. So it’s a weekend race. So you both have the potential to achieve this, as you’ve shown, so we’ll see. I wish both of you the best. “
“I’ve found out in the last few years why I was fast”: Daniel Ricciardo says that this year’s fights taught him more about himself
Daniel Ricciardo’s first season at McLaren did not go according to plan as he struggled to adapt to the completely different philosophy of car design.
While team-mate Lando Norris performed performances that routinely threatened Red Bull and Mercedes, Daniel Ricciardo turned up struggled to even get to the last part of qualifying.
Over the course of the season and with massive support from the team, Daniel Ricciardo slowly made progress. The climax of his season came in Monza when the Australian left Mercedes’ Hamilton behind in sprint qualifying and won the main race.
Although McLaren has had a number of bad racing weekends lately, Daniel Ricciardo is still excited about the progress he and the team have made over the season. Speaking to Will Buxton in the media pen before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 32-year-old said:
“I think it definitely highlighted things in the team or in the car that needed to be worked on, but it actually made me realize, probably for the first time in my career, not just one of my weaknesses, but also one of my strengths. And through my weaknesses I discovered – “Oh, that’s why I’ve been fast in recent years” because I love driving the car so much. And yes, it was always just instinct and whatever. And of course you work for it. But when you’re fast, sometimes you’re just fast and you have that feeling, but to sum it up, I wasn’t always sure. All of this taught me a lot about myself this year – not just the things that I still have to work on, but the things that actually brought me here. ”
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Daniel Ricciardo was 16th fastest in the first free practice session on Friday before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while team-mate Norris was 12th.
Edited by Sandeep Banerjee
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