The Emilia Romagna Grand has finished with a 1-2 for Redbull and a victory for Max Verstappen. The podium completed by Lando Norris in third. The race itself was a decent race if not spectacular. The new regulations allowing cars to follow closer, even if the track doesn’t allow it.
There were a few talking points from the race, including Mercedes/Hamilton’s ongoing issues, Charles Leclerc’s late error and Daniel Ricciardo ending the race as the last of the runners following another disappointing race for the Aussie.
While watching the race, I couldn’t help but think that the Danny Ric/ McLaren partnership has failed. When the Ex Renault-driver signed for the papaya squad in 2020 even before the start of the delayed season, it seemed that McLaren had got their man.
A proven race winner with the personality that fits the team. However, the idea of Danny Ricciardo in McLaren has not translated to results on a consistent basis.
The first season for Ricciardo and McLaren was extremely disappointing – except for the 1-2 at the Italian GP at Monza – Danny was unable to adjust to the quirks of the McLaren MCL25B.
The disappointment of the season was compounded by the performance of his younger teammate Lando Norris, who was consistent for the most part of the season.
Admittedly the young Brit did drop off in the latter stages of the season.
The 2021 season was a consistent season for the McLaren team with each driver only suffering 1 DNF each during the 22 races.
Lando suffered his DNF at the start of the Hungarian GP while Ricciardo suffered his DNF at the Brazilian GP.
Danny Ricciardo’s struggles were evident from the start of the season, it was clear that the MCL35B was a tricky car for Danny to master, leading to a loss in confidence. This was clear in the results during the early part of the season with Lando Norris beating Danny Ricciardo in 9 of the first 10 races.
Over the course of the season Danny Ricciardo was beat 15-7 over the season. It was never close.
Surely it was expected to be closer between both sides of the garage?
At the start of the season I expected that Ricciardo would be able to beat Lando. As with most drivers heading to a new team, there is a period of grace, allowing for some below-par performances.
This can only last for so long, however.
2022 has not been the best start for McLaren. After a promising pre-season test in Barcelona, the wheels (or brakes) soon fell of the car after McLaren realised that they had mis-calculated the amount of cooling the brakes needed.
This led to a temporary fix effectively writing off the first two races, although the car has not seen any major changes since Bahrain.
The team have found a better understanding of the car and the new regulations for 2022. But a familiar pattern has started to emerge with Lando Norris taking the results, while Ricciardo is found wanting lower down the order.
It has to be said that Danny has not had the best of luck with a DNF in Saudi Arabia due to a mechanical issue, however Formula 1 is a ruthless sport.
Luck doesn’t come into it, results do.
The Emilia Romagna GP showed how big the gap is, with Lando Norris grabbing third and a trip to the podium. Ricciardo meanwhile was last.
Danny’s race was effectively ended after contact with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz on the first lap, ending Carlos’s race and putting the Australian at the back.
He remained there for the rest of the race, unable to gain on the field. Although the incident was deemed to be a racing incident, it was Danny Ric’s fault, taking too much kerb on the inside of the chicane sending him in to the Ferrari of Sainz.
This not good enough for McLaren or Ricciardo.
With the lacklustre results for Danny at McLaren, it would be remiss to think that McLaren are not already looking at who could partner Lando Norris heading into the future.
Lando Norris was awarded a long-term contract, with it looking increasingly likely that Lando will become a career driver for McLaren. Danny Ricciardo needs to bring back the confidence he had back while driving for Redbull. If not, his Formula 1 career could be over sooner than expected.