Daniel Ricciardo "ended" by Lando Norris - Damon Hill

McLaren

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Daniel Ricciardo "ended" by Lando Norris - Damon Hill

Ricciardo has been unable to match his younger team-mate since joining McLaren last year

Sam Hall

Wednesday 8 June 2022 13:50 Updated: 13:54

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Former F1 champion Damon Hill has claimed that Lando Norris has "ended" his McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Although Australian Ricciardo scored McLaren's first victory since 2012 in last year's Italian Grand Prix, the 32-year-old trailed Norris by 55 points at the end of the season.

His struggles have continued this term, with Ricciardo already falling 37 short after just seven races.

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"When Daniel Ricciardo was signed, he came up to us in the paddock and he said [to Norris] 'I'm going to end you'," said Hill on the F1 Nation podcast.

"I remember thinking, 'That is always a risky thing to say,' because it looks like the other way around, that Daniel Ricciardo has been ended by Lando.

"He can't crack it and then the motivation goes and the questions come and then the pressure goes back onto the person who signed him in the first place, and if there are lots of resources going out to pay for a very expensive driver then inevitably.

"So he is under an enormous amount of strain. Does that help someone go faster? Probably not, but what to do about it?"

Ricciardo 'can't unlock what he needs'

Ricciardo is under contract until the end of 2023 but the Australian's struggles led McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to reveal in a recent interview that there are 'mechanisms' in place to end the deal early.

"Zak didn't exactly come out with this comment just because he wanted to make a statement about how he felt about Daniel Ricciardo," added Hill.

"There has been a lot of conjecture and us, the media, have been asking 'What are you going to do about Daniel Ricciardo, because everyone can see he has reached a creative block somewhere with his performances?'.

"He can't seem to unlock what he needs. I know he won Monza and it showed that when he gets in the lead, something else fires up but something is missing."