After a very strong performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, McLaren looked like the favorite to head into the second race weekend of the season. But the hype seems to have subsided drastically since both McLarens hit the track on Friday afternoon. Daniel Ricciardo in particular did not look anywhere near the comfort zone in the car.
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While last year’s podium finished the first race in 10th place, the second race was much worse as he could only drive in 18th place. One might assume that as a freshman, Ricciardo is still trying to get a grip on the McLaren.
What is shocking, however, is that even Lando Norris repeated a similar excursion on Friday with P13 in FP1 and P8 in FP2. After the combat-related training units, Ricciardo said that there was a lot to do in the garage overnight to get “comfortably” into the third quarter on Saturday.
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What did Daniel Ricciardo say?
As reported by PlanetF1, Ricciardo admitted that McLaren was far from pace expectations for all of Friday: “We’re going to work tonight. We’ll have our technical debrief in a few minutes. So, yeah, I think we’re going to spend some time trying to figure out what we were missing today, ”said Ricciardo.
“I think to get us into the third quarter comfortably tomorrow, we need to make some changes. We’re not really there yet.
Formula 1 F1 – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy – April 16, 2021 Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren in action during practice REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane
“To say that, it’s a cool track. I was still having fun. But of course I want to find competitiveness. “
To add to McLaren’s woes, their AlphaTauri and Ferrari threats have looked glowing. Pierre Gasly in particular achieved his goals with ease and stayed right behind the Mercedes duo all afternoon, ending both sessions on P4 and P3. Hence, it seems almost impossible for McLaren to bridge the gap between the two rivals.
Saturday is very important: Ricciardo
The McLaren driver is aware that Imola offers little to no space for overtaking maneuvers. So qualifying will have a much higher priority than usual.
“It’s really difficult to overtake here. And we can’t afford to be too far in the pack after tomorrow afternoon, ”he said.
Formula 1 F1 – Pre-Season Tests – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in action while testing REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed
“So yes, it’s all well and good, maybe a little faster with high fuel consumption. But we are definitely tonight – at least from my side, the focus is definitely on the performance in a lap. “
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Imola returned to Formula 1 last year and Ricciardo drove a brilliant race to secure a podium with the two Mercedes drivers.
With such a successful story, can Ricciardo get another podium out of the weekend?
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