McLaren CEO puts pressure on Ricciardo: "Hasn't met our expectations"

McLaren is disappointed

At the beginning of 2021, he was brought in as the big man by McLaren. Carlos Sainz made the switch to Ferrari and actually they weren't too sad about that at McLaren. They were able to bring in Ricciardo, who Brown had also wanted before. At that time the Australian chose Renault.

The cooperation between the two parties is not smooth. Ricciardo won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, but in general he simply falls short of his younger teammate. Ricciardo's position has come under pressure because he has already been awarded a new long-term contract.

Ricciardo disappoints

''Lando definitely has an edge. We would like to see Daniel much closer to Lando to have a good internal team battle. Daniel is just not comfortable with the car. We're trying everything we can, again it was a disappointing weekend,'' Brown said of the Spanish GP where Ricciardo finished outside the points again after a top ten qualifying effort. Norris did finish in the top ten despite being ill.

"Outside of a couple of races like Monza, it generally (the partnership) hasn't met our expectations. All you can continue to do is work hard as a team, keep communications going and keep pushing. Hopefully at some point it will start clicking."

Norris very strong

According to Brown, however, it is not just Ricciardo's fault, but Norris has also grown as a driver. Working with Sainz, Norris often had to give up to the Spaniard on Sunday, but since Ricciardo's arrival he has taken the reins firmly and is leading the team.

"It also points to how good Lando is. If you look at the difference between Charles (Leclerc) and Carlos (Sainz) or the gap between Max (Verstappen) and Sergio (Perez), you see gaps between teammates. I think Lando is one of the best drivers in the world at the moment. So it's also a compliment to Lando when you look at the gap that exists," the McLaren top executive concludes.