Why Ricciardo "pride" was not hurt by defeat to Norris

Daniel Ricciardo has explained why his pride was not dented by his defeat to team-mate Lando Norris during his first year at McLaren last season.

The Australian made the switch from Renault, now Alpine, to McLaren ahead of the 2021 season and despite taking the Woking-based team's first win for nine years, struggled for form compared to the less-experienced Norris.

Given his strong performances at Renault and race-winning ability at Red Bull, his results last season came as a shock to most but Ricciardo has not allowed his deficit to Norris to dent his own confidence.

"We've definitely learned from each other this year," said Ricciardo in an end-of-season interview including GPFans.

"Even the times where he [Norris] has been quicker he's still taken some things from me. I don't want to say it's 50-50. I've probably taken more from him from a driving point of view.

"If this was his first year in F1 and he just jumped in and was doing what he's doing, then maybe my pride would be a little hurt.

"I certainly acknowledge I've been in the sport a lot longer, but he is the guy in this team that knows the team. Even like giving feedback, he'll relate to things.

"So I was quickly aware - forget the years in the sport - this is the more experienced guy, even with just the way he interacts with engineers and that, he knows the guys.

"So I need to listen to what he's saying and try to understand what's what with the car."

Explaining how his troubles were potentially beneficial to the team when he arrived, Ricciardo added: "Through me talking about the things I can't do with this car, it's also giving him awareness of... 'So that's why these other teams can do this. This is where we need to focus more energy and attention'.

"It's been good. My pride is okay but if this was a rookie doing this, then I'd probably be a little more sad."

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