Daniel Ricciardo yet to feel "10 out of 10" with McLaren

McLaren

Ricciardo yet to feel "10 out of 10" with McLaren

Australian is continuing to adapt with the car

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Tuesday 2 November 2021 12:44 Updated: 12:49

Daniel Ricciardo still feels unable to give himself "10 out of 10" with his McLaren this season as he continues to adapt to the MCL35M despite only five races remaining.

Ricciardo's first year with the team has been difficult as he has struggled to marry his driving style to how the car behaves.

Since the summer break results have at least improved, with the Australian winning the Italian Grand Prix, as well as scoring two fourth-place finishes in Belgium and Russia, and fifth in the last race in the United States.

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That has been offset by two results outside the top 10 in the Netherlands and Turkey, highlighting the rollercoaster nature of the campaign.

Asked if the up-and-down results were a surprise, Ricciardo answered: "I wouldn't say a surprise.

"I would say there's still an element of me not being, let's say, 10 out of 10 with the car. There are some corners where I'm still trying to adapt to a bit of a McLaren style."

Looking ahead to this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix, Ricciardo added: "If I quickly think about Mexico, I'm not really sure, with the corners, what style I'll need to take.

"I think the middle sector, the fast stuff, we should be pretty good."

Ricciardo feels F1 chasing pack "can surprise you"

Although McLaren sits 150 points clear of fifth-place constructor Alpine, on track the two are often in close proximity along with AlphaTauri which is also often challenging for a top-six position on race day.

For Ricciardo, that underlines the vagaries of the grid on any given Sunday and that he maybe should not be pointing such a harsh finger at himself.

"The thing is with F1 this year, where it's so close with some of the teams, sometimes a team can surprise you," added Ricciardo.

"AlphaTauri has shown at some races they are ahead of that midfield, and probably sometimes you don't really have an answer.

"[So] It's not all maybe me and my feeling with McLaren but the field in general. In Austin, I don't think we expected to be so clear - the field spread was pretty big."