14 February 2023 , 18:20
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Lando Norris believes he did a better job of adapting to his tricky McLaren car than Daniel Ricciardo during their time as team-mates.
The Aussie's spell at McLaren did not go as he would have planned. Having taken the risk of leaving their midfield rivals Alpine after just two years, Ricciardo was gambling on the Woking team being in a better position to win races and perhaps even mount a title challenge.
One race victory did occur, of course, at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, But, that golden day at Monza aside, high points were few and far between for the 33-year-old during his truncated McLaren spell.
Both Ricciardo and Norris have spoken at length in the past about how tricky their cars are to drive, compared to many of the others on the grid. But the Brit was able to get to grips with his machine far better than his now former team-mate ever managed.
In a new interview, Norris has even suggested that Ricciardo had a better starting point in 2022. "Daniel’s natural driving style at the beginning of the year suited the car more than it did me and I had to force myself to drive in a different way," he told The Race.
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"I feel I've done a good job, similar to Carlos [Sainz, at Ferrari]. He complained a lot at the beginning of the season and had to do a lot of work to adapt to make the most of the car. That's the driver's job, at the end of the day, no matter what the car is.
Lando Norris outshined Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren (Getty Images)"Whether the car is easy to drive or hard to drive, the driver's job is to go out and adapt to it and understand how to drive it in the quickest way. But it does take time. That's something that's made me believe I've done a good job [in 2022]."
Speaking as McLaren unveiled their new car livery for the 2023 season, Norris said he is willing to give his team more time to prove they can match his ambitions. "I am probably not the most patient guy in the world, but it is something you need to learn to have in F1," he said.
"I am just doing my job one day at a time and that's the way I go about it. A successful year would be to still take some big steps forward, a year where we can get back to fighting at the front of the midfield confidently – that's something that slipped away from us last year – and leading the fight for the top three teams."