Austrian Grand Prix

Ricciardo refusing to seek Norris advice despite continuing McLaren woe

Ricciardo qualified 13th in Austria with Norris narrowly missing out on pole

Ewan Gale

Saturday 3 July 2021 20:54

Daniel Ricciardo is refusing to seek advice from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris despite his woes showing no sign of ending.

The Australian's poor form continued in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix as he could only claim 13th while Norris missed out on pole position by just 0.048secs to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 if the set-ups used by the duo were different, Ricciardo said: "It is pretty similar.

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"When there is a deficit like this, you don't want to be too clever either. It is like you don't go too far away from the benchmark, so no it is close, pretty similar [but] not too sure where to find that lap time."

On whether he would ask Norris for advice, Ricciardo retorted: "Drivers don't do that. Each to their own.

"In debriefs, information is shared about how we feel about the car, but no, everyone has got their own way to drive and their own little things they'll keep for themselves so that is just how this sport is and that is okay. I am completely okay with that."

Ricciardo felt "decent" in qualifying

Ricciardo's single-lap pace at the Red Bull Ring has disappeared ever since setting a competitive lap time in FP2 at last weekend's Styrian Grand Prix, where he would go on finish 13th after engine issues halted his progress through the field.

Asked what went wrong during qualifying, Ricciardo responded: "To be honest, it felt alright, it felt decent.

"It felt pretty good. Q1 felt alright and Q2 was a bit messy, everyone started to go... it was starting to bunch up starting the lap.

"Not sure it was quite there for Q2 but Q1 felt alright but there was still such a big gap. Not too sure. I feel like I am pushing the car and driving on the edge and it is just not translating into lap time at the moment."