The McLaren driver hopes that the latest rules that have been introduced in Formula 1 will increase the distance needed to carry out the braking, which will cause more overtaking to be seen.
In recent seasons, particularly during his time with Red Bull, the Australian has built a reputation as one of the best at overtaking from far away, something known as a divebomb . One of the best examples was at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix , when he managed to pass Valtteri Bottas, ultimately earning him the race win.
Formula 1 intends that the change in the aerodynamics of the cars with the famous ground effect will allow the drivers to follow each other from closer, a puzzle for the category in its modern era, especially with the cars of the 2017-2021 stage.
After presenting the new MCL36, Daniel Ricciardo spoke about this fact when asked about the behavior of the cars one after another and the possibility of seeing more overtaking: “Let’s hope they increase!”.
“In years past, I’ve done some of these moves for sure, but I haven’t been the guy to do it every race and you see it 20 times a season,” he said of the divebomb.
“That’s because of how the cars were, very fast and you braked so late that it was very difficult to get close to each other, so it was difficult to do those overtaking,” he continued. “Now, if this allows us to be a little closer and have more meters of braking, I hope we have to brake a little earlier to make it work”.
“I think that will encourage, not just more overtaking, but more opportunities for DRICC (referring to himself) stamped overtaking to come back.”
Ricciardo will face his second season at the Woking team, and he still has another year on his contract to show that he deserves to renew, as did his teammate, Lando Norris, who will be linked to McLaren until 2025.
This agreement follows in the footsteps of other youngsters on the grid, such as Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc, who have secured their presence at Alpine, Red Bull and Ferrari, respectively, for many campaigns.
The Australian reflected on Norris’ contract, explaining that, at 32, “he’s in a different place in his career”, and believes “the long-term goal is stability”.
“We are in different scenarios, but I think the renewal of Lando [Norris] is a good thing. I think it is for the team, not only his performances last year were excellent, but he is improving, he loves the team and that is where wants to be,” he said.
“That’s the important thing, that he’s happy in the environment he’s in, so a long-term commitment is important for a young driver. It’s a good move and I’m happy for him.”
