Brown on open criticism of Ricciardo: 'I just gave an honest answer'
12:57, 22 Jun 2022
5 Comments
Zak Brown stresses that he has 'just been honest' in his comments about Daniel Ricciardo. The team boss says the team is getting on well with the Australian and that the trust is still there.
A few weeks ago, Brown openly stated that Ricciardo will have to perform better to keep his seat at McLaren. The McLaren team boss even takes an early departure of the driver into account. It is therefore clear that the Australian is under pressure now that he's being beaten by teammate Lando Norris for the second season.
Speaking to Fox Sports Australia, Brown says he just wanted to be honest. “They asked the question and I just gave an honest answer. I think Daniel has said the same thing. We’re here to try and get towards the front.”
Confidence in Ricciardo's present
"We’ve got a great relationship. Daniel has shown, like he did in Monza last year, when we give him a car that suits his driving style and has pace that he’s going to go out and lead laps and win a race. I think we need to have a car that’s a little bit more performant and user friendly, and he’ll get the job done", says Brown.
Brown admits McLaren has delivered very little this season. At the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, zero points were scored. The team is far off the pace of title rivals Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, as well as Mercedes.
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With all due respect.......the McLaren is a wheelbarrow. All this BS about Ricciardo is just that .....give him a performing car and the TEAM will get results. Lando is just a SIM driver that will labour to win a race let alone be at the top of a Championship. He purely and simply cannot lead (or win) with confidence....oh and be clearly advised that without Ricciardo - McLaren would have zero sponsorship except for Lando's dad
This guy is living proof Seidl is the brains of this operation.
Zak's two drivers are 35 points apart presently and he says that one driver is underperforming because of the huge points difference to his team mate.
However over at Mercedes, their two drivers are 34 points apart and Toto says it is the car that is 'underivable' (for one of the driver, at least) and is not the driver himself that is underperforming.
In one case, the driver in question is a perceived superstar and perceived champion of the future who underdelivers. In the other case, the driver in question is a 7x World Champion MEGAstar, with a sensitive ego.
Catfishing as usual. Merc understands what is going on. McLaren does not. Easy peasy