Credits: IMAGO / Motorsport Images

Daniel Ricciardo had two bittersweet years with McLaren back in 2021 and 2022. Even though the first year has been decent for him, the second year has hit him right on his core, compelling him to lose confidence. So much so, that coming into 2024 he still remembers those days and opened up about how he lost against his teammate Lando Norris.

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Norris, being a less experienced teammate, fared better at the British team that year. Even though expectations were more on the Honey Badger due to his name and fame, it resulted otherwise. Speaking about those days, Ricciardo said to GQ Sports Australia, “I felt like the season started a bit more competitively and then it started to get away from us more and more.”

The 34-year-old further added, “At that point, I think on both sides we were just a bit at a loss. Clearly, I’m starting to lose confidence in myself, in the team around me. I think they’re losing confidence in me and what they’re doing. It started to feel like a very uphill battle.”

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Ricciardo arrived at the Woking based team from Renault in 2021. Given how popular he was due to his Red Bull stint and of course, Drive to Survive, expectations from Zak Brown and Co. as well as from fans mounted on him. Sadly enough, he was far from justifying his worth after facing issues with adjusting to the MCL35M.

In his very first season [2021], he failed to live up to the expectations and finished behind Norris in the driver’s championship. He claimed P8 with 115 points, whereas Norris picked up P6 with 160 points. The only notable achievement was his race win in Monza, and that win remains as his last Grand Prix win to this day.

How was Daniel Ricciardo’s second year at McLaren?

The worst for Daniel Ricciardo was yet to come in McLaren and it did not take long before his performance took a nosedive. Right from the beginning of the 2022 season, Ricciardo struggled to have a points finish. Out of the first 10 races, the Honey Badger finished inside P10 only twice!

Whereas the British driver finished inside P10 seven times in the first 10 races and amassed formidable points driving the same car. In the end, in a season where experts and fans expected the Australian driver to make a comeback, it turned out to be the opposite.

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By the end of the year, Ricciardo and Norris had a mighty difference in points haul. The Australian could only claim 37 points and P11 compared to his British counterparts’ 122 points and P7. The lack of points from the 34-year-old meant McLaren failed to finish in P4 in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of Alpine and lost out on millions of dollars of prize money.

Daniel Ricciardo’s deterioration in terms of performance got the hold of Brown midway and he did not want to take chances any further. The McLaren CEO cut short his team’s ties with Ricciardo and signed rookie Oscar Piastri in place of him from 2023 onwards. However, the Honey Badger still had one more year with the Papayas, but his early dismissal meant he took home $18 million as compensation.