Ricciardo Explains Why Current Negative Streak Is 'Very Different' From McLaren

Friday, 29 March 2024 at 18:15

Daniel Ricciardo declared in one of his most recent interviews that his current situation in RB can't be compared to what he experienced in McLaren.

Ricciardo already went through one rocky period in his career at McLaren where he, for some reason, couldn't unlock the car potential that his teammate Lando Norris could.

The Australian driver has also been experiencing a challenging time again since the start of the 2024 season and hasn't been able to outqualify his less experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda.

Much more was expected from the 34-year-old, but as he yet again couldn't perform during the third race of the season in Australia, many of the fans started writing him off, saying it was the same problem that he had in McLaren and that the honey badger had lost his mojo.

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However, Ricciardo asserted this situation is "very different" from what it was in McLaren. He told the media after the most recent race at Albert Park Circuit:

"I know how I feel, and maybe not everyone does, but it's a very different situation from McLaren. I think, especially in 2022, I was running on very, very little confidence. I was kind of confused with the car, and I didn't really understand it. That was a completely different thing, and this isn't that."

The problem for the Australian driver is that his teammate Tsunoda is showing the car is capable of Q3 in qualifying and point-finish in the race.

"We’re certainly not achieving what we thought we would be but it’s not through just being lost or losing confidence or anything."

Helmut Marko admitted he was "puzzled" by the poor performance of the honey badger. The 80-year-old said he seems "generally slower" than the Japanese driver. Ricciardo, however, says he knows he can break this negative streak as he added:

"We know we can do it, I thought it would have happened this weekend, unfortunately it didn't. But we're not going to start letting the noise creep in, just stay true to the course and it'll turn around."