Ricciardo sees Norris doing 'impossible' things: 'I can't do that'

In 2021, McLaren seemed to bring in a new front-runner with Ricciardo and Norris was mainly asked what he could learn from the Australian. After two seasons, the answer to that turned out to be 'not much', as Ricciardo was never able to offer Norris the resistance expected of him, let alone picking up the leading role.

Ricciardo beaten by Norris

Billed as a great driver, Ricciardo himself is shocked by his years at McLaren. ''Obviously, we have so much data, and I’ll watch Lando’s onboards as well. And I’ll see sometimes what he’s able to do, and I’m just like, ‘OK, I can see it, but I can’t do it’. And even in debriefs, you’ll hear from Lando ‘oh this stint of the race, I could really feel the car was working there, it kind of came alive’ where I’m just like… I never had that feeling,'' Ricciardo told The Race.

According to Ricciardo, there are very two possible explanations for the difference between the two drivers. Option one is that Norris is simply very good. Ricciardo does not want to take credit away from Norris by saying that is not the case. The other option, according to Ricciardo, is ignorance on Norris' part. In his own words, he does not mean this in a nasty way, but the eight-time race winner believes it might help Norris that he has never driven an F1 car other than McLaren's, and therefore does not know how (good) it can also be.

Ricciardo is entering his final months for McLaren, as he will be replaced by Oscar Piastri in 2023. Ricciardo himself already announced he will not be on the 2023 grid and will focus entirely on 2024. He is thus rumoured to be angling for a reserve role at Mercedes, where he then hopes to step in in 2024 when Lewis Hamilton retires.