McLaren refuse to blame Ricciardo for Alpine defeat

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has refused to pin the team's failure to defeat Alpine this season on Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo endured a torrid second year with the team and scored just 37 points compared to team-mate Lando Norris' tally of 122.

Although Esteban Ocon, the lead Alpine driver in the standings, fell 30 points short of Norris, his total combined with team-mate Fernando Alonso's saw the French manufacturer finish ahead of McLaren in fourth in the constructors' table.

Australian Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren ahead of the new season and has rejoined Red Bull as a reserve and test driver.

Put to him that the second driver's contribution to the points tally was what swung the battle in Alpine's favour, Seidl insisted: “I’m far away from just blaming the situation on Daniel for not scoring P4 this year.

“In the end, I’m aware of my responsibility as well and the team’s responsibility in order not to get it working together with Daniel in the way we were all hoping for, despite a great commitment that was there on Daniel’s side and on our side.

“That is then, in the end, part of not scoring the points as a team that you wanted to score or could have scored.

“It’s simply part of the sport as well and that is something that we try to address and improve for next year.”