Daniel Ricciardo Clarifies Monaco F1 Love Still Intact Despite Dismal weekend

There were a number of disappointed faces after the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Aside from Mercedes, who had a nightmare, and Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was another one. The Australian was well down the order and eventually finished in 12th place.

On an embarrassing note, Ricciardo even got lapped by teammate Lando Norris. To make matters worse, the British driver even gave a cheeky wave to Ricciardo as he lapped him. Obviously, the 31-year-old will be hopping mad to have been defeated at one of his best race tracks.

Afterwards on Instagram, Ricciardo insisted that despite the poor result, he still loves Monaco. After all, it was the scene of his last F1 win and probably his most cherished.

It is worth mentioning that Ricciardo is quite adept at street circuits, as he also has a win at Azerbaijan in 2017.

Daniel Ricciardo will want to put this result behind him

To be honest, Ricciardo has not had the best of starts to his McLaren career. His teammate Lando Norris has been upstaging him on multiple occasions and already has two podiums to his name. The 2021 Monaco Grand Prix was also the first time this season that he did not finish in the points.

Now, the Australian driver is hoping for a better result at Baku in 2 weeks’ time. As mentioned before, the Baku Street Circuit is also a track that Ricciardo has won at before.

However, that does not guarantee that he will secure a good result in Azerbaijan. Instead, he will have to work extremely hard to catch up to his younger teammate.

Without a doubt, the pressure is on the Australian to prove his mettle for the Woking-based squad. Many of the drivers in new teams have begun to try and adjust to their environments and deliver excellent results. For example, Sebastian Vettel stormed to a fine 5th place at Monte Carlo, his first points finish for the British team.

READ MORE: Daniel Ricciardo Explains Why He’s Anointed Himself the “Lord of the Streets” Ahead of Monaco GP