Lando Norris Reveals How Daniel Ricciardo’s Shocking Incompetence Proved as a Blessing for Him

With each season and each round, the F1 driver becomes more adept at handling tough circumstances. Lando Norris‘ decision to stick with McLaren through thick and thin seems to have given him the leadership skills and the expertise he requires to face difficult periods. Norris, who is just 23 years old, began this season with the senior driver tag, which had been established the year before when the papaya army witnessed Daniel Ricciardo struggle in the MCL35. Consequently, Daniel Ricciardo’s complications utilizing the MCL35 to its best potential ultimately favored the British driver. Let’s explore this narrative to see how the events played out.

Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from Renault in order to advance his career as the Enstone team failed to reward him. However, the Honey Badger at the Papaya team experienced success and returned home with an Italian GP victory. Yet, the rest of his tenure was hampered by MCL35 driving worries and reliability problems.

Lando Norris, on the other hand, was providing the squad with all the evidence they needed to test his mettle. The young Briton scored 122 points when the flamboyant Australian had only received 37, making him McLaren’s go-to driver. As a result of Ricciardo’s dismal performance over 2 years and the fact that both drivers’ point totals significantly varied, the team replaced the honey badger at the end of last year.

And according to Lando Norris, the Honey Badger’s incompetence turned out to be a blessing for him. And even now that Oscar Piastri has replaced the former Mclaren driver, Norris hasn’t noticed much of a change in the position. The British motorist was caught on the Athletic stating, “With some of the struggles that Daniel had, I feel that I already almost stepped into this position of being the one trying to lead the team on, ‘This is what we need from the car, that’s what we need from the car.”

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Although with the responsibility comes a need to show why one was tagged to be the team’s leader. This is exactly what Lando Norris has spoken about, besides he also revealed how he modified himself to fit the demands.

What modifications did Lando Norris make to meet the team’s requirements after Daniel Ricciardo departed?

In events like the Miami Grand Prix and the Spanish GP, Lando Norris was discovered toiling at the tail end of the grid. However, the British driver excellently used McLaren’s latest modifications, and as a result of his two P2 finishes and respectable performance at the Austrian and Belgian Grand Prix, he has moved up to eighth place in the driver’s championship.

And even though Norris has his sights set on the top five spots, he has made a significant revelation. The 23-year-old told Skysports he had to modify his driving style in order to meet the team’s demand.

He said, “You have to drive it quite one way but it’s also a way that I don’t want to drive or like to drive. I want to be able to carry minimum speed and U a corner and the last thing I can do in the world now is U a corner.” Later, revealing his preferred styling to drive the MCL60 Norris added, “ I have to V the corner more than ever and I’ve never been the biggest fan of doing that and I don’t like it that much.” 

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What Norris wanted to say by U and V corners is, in a U corner, the driver rolls the vehicle into the turn while maintaining a faster rate of speed, however in a V corner, the driver will brake a little later. In light of this, do you believe Norris will still be able to outrun the powerful Red Bull if he continues to drive contrary to his usual style?