Daniel Ricciardo Maintains Dignity to Not Expose Struggling McLaren’s Weaknesses With Mature Confession: “I’m Not the Perfect Driver”

The Daniel Ricciardo-McLaren split was far from a smooth affair. The saga went on for too long, with rumors and speculations running wild before the finality settled. Also attached to his fate was that of his fellow Aussie driver, Oscar Piastri, who, as we know it now, replaced him. In the end, the Honey Badger ended up with no team for a year, leaving him serving 3rd driver duties with Red Bull. However, that hasn’t made him bitter. In fact, he admits to his part of fault for the fate the Papaya team finds itself in currently.

Ricciardo never got off to a good start with McLaren in 2021. The only silver lining was his race win at the Italian GP that year. Despite the win, he finished behind his young teammate Lando Norris on points. The run only got more miserable the next year as Lando once again trumped him on points. Moreover, this time, there was no consolation race win either. The stint left even team CEO Zak Brown shocked, who admitted to being Daniel’s big fan, even after his departure.

Speaking with a limited group of publications including Speed Cafe, Ricciardo recently told, “I’ll always take some responsibility or accountability. For many years, I truly believed I was the best, and I am the best in the world, so whatever the situation, I’ll be able to overcome it. And obviously with McLaren it was tough for me to do that.”

“So yeah, I was aware that I’m not the perfect driver, I do have weaknesses, so I’ll always hold something on to myself,” he added.

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Before the satisfactory result at the Australian GP, McLaren was struggling quite a bit. But the Red Bull third driver refused to take any joy out of their misery.

McLaren’s ill fortunes do not give Daniel Ricciardo any happiness

Norris and Piastri finished the Melbourne race with points under their belt. The 12 points were very crucial for the team to boost their confidence. Before that, McLaren was going through a rough patch that saw Norris finish P17 twice in as many races, a position he had never finished in before the current season.

Daniel, however, continued to carry his smile worth a billion dollars. When asked if the reason behind it was the bad run his ex-team was going through, he categorically denied it. The Honey Badger said, “It’s nothing to do with …  I mean, they’ve only had two races.It’s nothing to do with where they are and I don’t wish bad of them, of course. It’s definitely not like that.”

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It is heartening to know that a bad experience hasn’t left the smiling Aussie bitter with his former team. Who knows where he might end up in the coming years?