Ricciardo 'more comfortable' after a race with McLaren than with Renault or Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo has claimed to feeling more comfortable after a race with McLaren than in past years with Renault and Red Bull.

Despite being the team that endured more upheaval than others over the winter in taking on a new power unit and driver, McLaren appears to be leading the midfield pack behind frontrunning duo Mercedes and Red Bull following the opening race in Bahrain.

Ricciardo qualified a superb sixth and finished seventh after being clipped by Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri early on which caused significant damage to the floor, and in turn heavily impacted downforce.

Despite that incident, Ricciardo could not be more content with the ease with which he has settled into the MCL35M in comparison to his two years with Renault and on occasion with Red Bull.

Declaring his start to the season in Bahrain as "positive", Ricciardo added: "We secured a good result in that first race, and it felt amazing to make my debut for the team.

"I was a bit unfortunate with the damage we found on the car after the race, and there are still a few more things to learn and get to grips with which takes a bit of time.

"But given that, I’m confident we’ve got a lot more performance left to unlock. We’ve been working hard back at the factory to understand how we can build on that solid start.

"I completely expected it to take a few races to feel comfortable in the car, but I’m feeling better after race one than I had done at the same point in previous years, so that’s really promising."

Ahead of the second race of the season at Imola this weekend, Ricciardo insists he and the team will "give it plenty" as he bids for back-to-back podiums at the circuit after finishing third with Renault at the race in November.

"It’s an iconic old-school track with a fast and flowing layout that provides little room for error," added Ricciardo.

"I’m really excited to be heading back there after last year’s race where I finished on the podium.

"I’m definitely planning on bringing that experience from last year to help the team this weekend and fight for those points.”

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