Daniel Ricciardo integration with McLaren now "history"

McLaren

Ricciardo integration with McLaren now "history"

Ricciardo was more comfortable in France after uneasy start

Sam Hall

Tuesday 22 June 2021 18:00

Andreas Seidl feels all talk of Daniel Ricciardo's integration into McLaren should now be "history".

Ricciardo joined McLaren over the winter after two years at Renault where he finally unlocked his potential over the second half of last season during which he scored two podiums.

The Australian has again struggled following his arrival at McLaren, particularly in comparison to team-mate Lando Norris who has become the 'best-of-the-rest' behind Mercedes and Red Bull.

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But after finishing one position behind fifth-placed Norris at the French Grand Prix, Seidl believes the discussions around Ricciardo settling in at McLaren are over.

"Definitely, it was a good weekend for the team, a good weekend for Daniel being back in Q3 and having this strong drive in the afternoon is showing the approach we took together with him as a team is paying off," said Seidl.

“I’m simply looking forward now for going to Austria, the same track two times in a row and also, again, a more normal race track and I am confident that this integration process is history.”

Suggested to Seidl the French GP was a turning point, he replied: “It is just a continuation of the journey he is on together with us.

"As we said at the beginning of the weekend, we could see already in the race in Baku that he had made a good step then, unfortunately, he had the crash in qualifying."

Overtakes show Ricciardo has rediscovered his confidence

Ricciardo started the Paul Ricard race in 10th but moved up four positions across the 53 laps to ensure only Mercedes and Red Bull finished ahead of the two McLarens.

The 31-year-old has been famed for his late-braking moves and whilst not as daring as examples from his past, some of Sunday's overtakes clearly demonstrated he is becoming more assured.

Seidl commented: “It was great to see how he could pull it off in the race, how he was also putting the manoeuvres down which shows that he has a lot more confidence in the car.

"[I’m] actually looking forward, now that we have the next two races at a more normal race track again, because I think that will finally complete his arrival here at McLaren.”