RICCIARDO CONFIDENTIAL FROM THE MCLAREN F1 TITLE

By Josh Nevett

Release date: October 21, 2021

The ultimate prize in Formula 1 may have escaped Australian Daniel Ricciardo so far, but the McLaren driver is confident that he can become world champion with the Woking team.

Ricciardo is in eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the end of his first season with McLaren but is still firmly convinced that he can make it to the top

“I am still here [in F1] because I think I can win a title, ”said Ricciardo on the“ Beyond the Grid ”podcast.

“I want to win a title, but I’m happy with everything that happens as long as I just go out and leave everything behind.”

Despite leaving the pace of Mercedes and Red Bull behind this year, the Western Australian and his team are confident of climbing the rankings next year due to the potential offsetting effects of new technical regulations in 2022.

“It’s exciting for the whole sport, for us at McLaren we definitely see it as another chance to get closer again,” said Ricciardo.

“The team has come on a great path, the plan is to continue with these rule changes and I think there is an opportunity to take a bigger step.

“But every team has the same opportunities, every team thinks the same way.

“So it’s not just us, the thought of it makes me smile.”

A McLaren 1-2 finish with teammate Lando Norris in Monza also contributed to a new feeling of possibility within the team ranks, according to Ricciardo.

“The truth is that Monza has proven it all … no one cracked, it really matters,” he said.

“They (McLaren) had podiums but getting the win confirms the great belief the team has in them to make it.

“What I took away from this weekend is man, we have a group of winners here and that makes me really excited.”

Becoming an F1 champion at McLaren would be a redeeming story for Ricciardo, who fell behind after finishing third overall for Red Bull Racing in 2014 and 2016.

When asked if he believed he deserved a title in his Red Bull years (2014-2017), all dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, Ricciardo was straightforward.

“That’s a good question, I say yes,” said Ricciardo.

“But I don’t want to come from a bitter point of view: ‘I should have had that’, ‘why don’t I have the big trophy’.

“I’m going back to 2014 and in my head I think I could have won the world title this year if we had the means.

“I think I was able to win three races when Mercedes was so fast. I believe in equivalent equipment that I had to beat this year.

“Years have passed when, if everyone had the same equipment, I believe I was at a level that would have earned me a world title.”

The 32-year-old will return to Formula 1 this weekend for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

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