Daniel Ricciardo takes dig at McLaren after praising AlphaTauri approach

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo takes dig at McLaren after praising AlphaTauri approach

Former Red Bull reserve is back on the grid after a break from racing

Lauren Sneath

Friday 28 July 2023 13:27

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Daniel Ricciardo has said that AlphaTauri ‘just let me do it with my natural driving style’ as the Australian driver looked back at what went wrong with McLaren.

Ricciardo, who has gone from being a McLaren driver to a Red Bull reserve and then an AlphaTauri racer in the space of nine months, has praised the Faenza team’s approach.

The Australian driver had taken a step back from the grid after a disastrous parting of ways with McLaren, who he has said he felt were ‘going about things the wrong way’.

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He then joined AlphaTauri ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix after the shock sacking of F1 rookie Nyck de Vries.

Speaking about AlphaTauri to Auto Motor und Sport, Ricciardo said: “They just let me do it with my natural driving style.

“I noticed that they were curious and wanted to hear my opinion in the briefings.

“I was able to give them some new food for thought, but I didn’t want to overload them with 100 things over the first weekend.”

Ricciardo: I don’t want to talk about McLaren

The driver was keen to avoid the subject of his former team, but explained how he felt that they ‘did too much’.

He said: “I don’t really want to talk about the time at McLaren anymore.

“But back then, during the first summer break, I realised that we were going about things the wrong way, although obviously everyone was acting in the team’s best interest.

“But, looking back, you’d have to say that we probably just did too much.”