“A Championship-Caliber Driver”: McLaren F1 CEO Lauds Daniel Ricciardo

If there was ever a man to partner Lando Norris at McLaren other than Carlos Sainz, it would have to be Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian has agreed to a deal with McLaren to join them for next season. McLaren were pursuing Ricciardo for a while until they sealed the deal last month. The CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown, wanted Ricciardo 2 years ago, but the Australian opted for Renault instead. Nevertheless, now that they have got their dream signing, Brown is “super excited.”

McLaren CEO hails Daniel Ricciardo as championship winning material

Sky Sports interviewed McLaren CEO Zak Brown on their latest ‘vodcast.’ Speaking on the topic of Ricciardo’s signing, he said, “We’re super excited to have Daniel. To have a seven-time Grand Prix winner, he’s going to bring a lot of excitement. I think the duo of Daniel and Lando will be awesome on track and then off track.”

Furthermore, Brown showered the Australian with some high praise, “They are at two different stages of their careers. I think Daniel is a championship-caliber driver.” However, he doesn’t think McLaren will be able to provide him with the tools to win a championship, at least in the near future. “I don’t think we’ll quite give him a championship-caliber car in 2021. I think we are still on our road to recovery. But I think we’ll give him a competitive car. I think it’s a great benchmark for Lando and it’s going to be very exciting.”

Nevertheless, these are all topics to analyze in 2021. Lest we forget, we still have a whole season of racing left before we get there. Ricciardo is still contracted to Renault, with whom he would hope to bag at least a podium before he departs. As for Mclaren, they will want to build on the impressive foundations they laid down last year. With only 10 days to go for the start of the 2020 season, we’ll soon find out how McLaren and Ricciardo perform before they join hands for 2021.