27 July 2023 , 19:19
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Daniel Ricciardo feels the McLaren car 'spoke the language' of his team-mate – but Lando Norris is not so sure.
The Aussie is back in Formula 1 for the rest of this season, having spent the first 10 races on the sidelines. He lost his way during a tough spell with McLaren and must now make the most of his AlphaTauri opportunity.
He finished 13th in his first race. It was an unspectacular result on paper, but positive considering he both outqualified and finished the Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who is much more familiar with the AT04.
And it also helped Ricciardo to figure out "what the car likes" – standing him in good stead for the rest of this season. "That's really the most encouraging thing," he told reporters, before comparing the experience to the McLaren cars he struggled to get to grips with.
The Aussie added: "I felt obviously for whatever reasons the McLaren was normally not speaking my language, and it certainly speaks Lando's language. He certainly knows how to get the most out of that thing. But I felt like, especially last year, it [was] just bit of stalemate and it was really hard to get out of that.
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"So that's why the time off and then obviously a fresh now team and environment [has] obviously been probably the best thing for me. That's all I can ask for – progress and, I think, being open to learn again. That's important as well."
Norris, however, does not agree that McLaren's cars are suited to his preferred driving style. In contrast, even with this season's MCL60 with which he has just secured back-to-back podiums at Silverstone and in Hungary, the Brit says the car continues to prove a challenge to control.
Ricciardo is trying to revive his F1 career with AlphaTauri (Getty Images)He said: "The car still doesn't handle anywhere like what I would want from a car. If you said what do you need from a perfect car, I feel like it's really far away from what I want. But it's head is a little bit in that direction, which is a good thing for me – it's how I want to be able to drive and push the car. It has improved my confidence, I guess.
"We had a car which was inconsistent, I didn't know even last year at times. Even last year when we looked good and I looked confident, there's still plenty of times last year when I had no idea how to drive the car. I would come in and they would say, 'What's the problem?' From one lap to another it just changes and I don't know how to improve, and so on.
"Now, I feel like it's a slightly clearer direction that I need to be working in which is a good thing. I can just focus on more simple things with my driving and little things like this to help be here today. So it improved my confidence quite a bit. Not to the level that I still want, but to go out and drive how I want and feel confident and just drive freely and not have to think about it too much. It makes a big difference."