McLaren’s decision to put an end to its relationship with Daniel Ricciardo does not seem to have been very well received among Formula 1 fans.
There are many who believe that Ricciardo , who had a contract until 2023, should have been given more time to unleash the potential that everyone knows he has.
But Formula 1 is not a championship where being nice guarantees you absolutely nothing. Rather, it’s an all-consuming category where success and failure are measured in tenths of a second, and if something isn’t working, a decision has to be made. If you stand still at any point, you will quickly go backwards.
In the case of McLaren, throughout 2022 it was apparent that the gap between Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo last season had not really been minimized this year.
The Australian has not yet been able to gain the confidence to extract the maximum performance from the car, and this has led him to almost always finish behind his current teammate.
If McLaren fought alone, with a margin of maneuver with respect to its rivals, perhaps that difference between the two would not be so alarming.
But when you’re in a fight as tight as the midfield, three tenths can sometimes be the difference between getting to Q3 and falling out of Q1. And if you get stuck at the bottom of the grid on Sunday, then it’s very difficult to progress and get to the front.
By repeating that situation too many times, the difference in points that McLaren has seen between its two cars is beginning to be worrying. The clearest example of this is that at the moment, Norris has 76 points, while Ricciardo only has 19, something that the Woking board has not overlooked.
It is one of the biggest differences between teammates on the grid and for a team as ambitious as McLaren, whose aim is to once again lead the top flight, it is obvious that internally there was great concern about it.
While this year Ricciardo’s poor points contribution has seen them battle with Alpine for fourth place, the team’s concern was that the 50-point gap could mean two or three positions in the constructors’ championship in 2023. which obviously translates into less money for commercial rights and also less interest from sponsors and lower bonuses for all staff.
The team’s director, Andreas Seidl , acknowledged that one of the great objectives of an F1 team is to ensure that it has a couple of drivers who are evenly matched to get the most out of their car, since that is how they take advantage of its full potential.
“The objective is clear: for any team on the grid it is necessary to have two drivers who are always ready to make the most of the package they have,” he said.
“Of course, the situation we find ourselves in now with Daniel was not good, he has suffered too much with our car. But at the same time, some of the problems are shared and that is why we share the responsibility that the union does not work.” .
“I don’t want to blame Daniel for the position we currently have in the constructors’ championship, for example.”
Ultimately, the problem with Ricciardo isn’t that he doesn’t have the necessary skill and talent. Rather, something just didn’t quite click between him and McLaren’s concept car.
The Australian said earlier this year that the relationship between driver and car is like that of a dance partner: they have to be one for it to work. If they’re not in tune, it doesn’t work.
Both McLaren and the driver put a lot of effort into trying to figure out why the partnership wasn’t working, but saw little sign of progress after 18 months, which is why both may have had to accept that they would never get an answer.
Seidl added: “In terms of performance, I’ve said it before, for a Formula 1 driver to get results, obviously he has to feel attached to the car, and then you remember all the comments Daniel made about his problems.
“As I said before, we tried everything together to make him feel as comfortable in the car as Lando, especially when he needs to push the car to its absolute limit.
“We put a lot of effort, we made a lot of commitment on the part of the team, to see what we could do in the car to help him.
“He put a lot of effort also doing extra sessions with the engineers, simulation sessions, but we didn’t manage to unlock that which was missing compared to Lando. And unfortunately we couldn’t solve that situation.”
But while the matchup ultimately didn’t work out between McLaren and Ricciardo (which came as a surprise to them, fans and pundits alike), the team has nothing but praise for the contribution the Australian made to the structure and that it was way beyond that brilliant win at Monza last year.
“As far as Daniel is concerned, we have learned a lot from him,” Seidl said. “When I look back over these 18 months, it’s not like Daniel needed something completely different from Lando in the car. Actually, they were both making similar comments about the weak points of the car.
“I want to also make it clear that, during the time we have spent together so far, we have greatly appreciated all that he has brought to the team with his experience. I think he has also helped us take the next step as a team.”
“He always behaved very well, even on the days when he didn’t have the car he deserved. He was always positive and helped me keep improving the team.”
“We have not forgotten, for example, the difficult start to the season that we had this year. And he was very important, that was very positive to see. Nothing has changed in terms of the respect that I personally have for him as well.”
“It’s just a fact, unfortunately, that we haven’t managed to make our union work. And, as I said before, in the end, it’s a team effort and a driver effort and I guess it’s a shared responsibility for, unfortunately, not having it. “, concluded the McLaren.
