Why Daniel Ricciardo took McLaren team orders "on the chin"

Daniel Ricciardo (links) en Lando Norris. — Photo: © LAT Images

McLaren

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Why Ricciardo took McLaren team orders "on the chin"

Ricciardo was told to let Lando Norris by at Imola

Ian Parkes

Tuesday 27 April 2021 05:12

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed why he did not 'jump up and down' with anger when team orders were imposed against him by McLaren during the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Although Ricciardo was ahead of team-mate Lando Norris in the opening stages of the F1 race, the British driver made clear over the team radio that he felt he was quicker than the Australian.

That led to a request from the pit wall for Ricciardo to let Norris by, with the latter proving to be correct as he went on to finish on the podium for the second time in his F1 career, while the former was only sixth.

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"It's something I've always gone with," explained Ricciardo in an interview with online Australian lifestyle magazine EFTM.

"I remember when I first joined Red Bull in 2014, in Melbourne when I got the podium, through the race a lot of my responses were 'Understood'.

"I think it was Adrian Newey who was like 'He just sounded so calm', so I felt like 'understood' was just a nice way of letting the team know 'Yeah, okay, I get it'.

"I don't really talk that much on the radio. I don't really like to spend too much time on it. It's quick and it lets the team know I've acknowledged the message."

Suggested to Ricciardo that once he is fully up to speed with McLaren, he is likely to put up more of a fight next time, he replied: "Yeah, of course, the competitor in me, I want to stay in front.

"But maybe it's just like maturity and experience now, but I acknowledge that basically, I wasn't quick enough, and I'm my biggest critic.

"In my head, if I was quick enough I would have pulled away and not been in that position. It's not like the team was holding me back so that Lando could have that position. It was all on me, and obviously, I'm not up to speed yet as much as I want.

"So I'll take that one on the chin and figure out a way to be better, as opposed to jumping up and down.

"I certainly don't want to create any friction in the team in race two, that's for sure."