Daniel Ricciardo Keen to ‘Forget’ Monaco Weekend After Getting Lapped by Norris

There was such an incredible hype surrounding the 2018 Monaco GP hero, Daniel Ricciardo, ahead of this weekend. However, what followed was disappointment for the Australian as he ended up walking away from Monte Carlo with 0 points.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Lando Norris enjoyed an entirely contrasting outing by ultimately securing his second podium of the season for McLaren. What’s more, in the pursuit of the podium, he also managed to lap his struggling teammate.

Hence, following the dreadful weekend on the streets of Monaco, Ricciardo reckoned that it was a weekend to forget.

What did Daniel Ricciardo say?

Speaking to the media, Ricciardo opined that neither he nor his crew got going over the weekend at Monte Carlo.

“I think the whole weekend was simply just a weekend to forget, for me personally. Obviously, car 4 and the rest of the team got a podium.

“So, you know, I obviously want to congratulate them. And they got it right. But, I don’t even know if it’s we got it wrong, we just never really got going,” he said.

Ricciardo had a rather poor start to the race as he ended up losing a position to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Hence, by the end of Turn 1, the Australian was lagging in P13, with his chances of securing a top 10 finish diminishing with each passing minute.

Moreover, the straightforward strategy did not do any good to the Honey Badger either as he ended up seeing the chequered flag in P12, over a lap behind his teammate.

Not going to over-analyze the weekend in Monaco: Ricciardo

The McLaren driver opened up that he has a lot more left to learn about his car. Hence, Ricciardo is looking to pick himself up and get ready for the approaching race weekend in Azerbaijan rather than pondering over the tough Monaco GP.

“We didn’t really do a crazy different setup. The cars are, I wanna say, nearly identical from a setup point of view. I’m not trying to be too clever with that either,” he said.

“Obviously, I’ve got more to learn with this car than Lando does. So, I’m not trying to be too different, trying to just follow suit and move forward with that. 

“But, yeah, just a strange weekend really from the get-go and one to forget, I think. I’m not probably gonna over-analyze this one I think, just move forward for Baku and go from there.”

Baku is looking like a strong circuit for McLaren. Moreover, considering McLaren’s immense straight-line speed and Baku’s massively long main straight, track position is unlikely to affect the drivers this time around.

Hence, can either of the McLaren drivers manage to secure yet another convincing finish at the Azerbaijan GP?