“He Buried Daniel”: Salt Rubbed In Ailing Ricciardo’s Wounds as Lando Norris Set to Wreck Fairytale Dream

The 2021 and 2022 Formula 1 seasons. Two years that Daniel Ricciardo would want to wipe from his memory. Following his departure from Red Bull, Ricciardo went to Renault. While he got his wish of not being the second driver there, he believed McLaren would be perfect for him. He couldn’t have been more wrong. He joined McLaren looking to finish his career where his idol, Ayrton Senna, prospered. Little did he know that his tenure at Woking would become a literal career-ending experience, courtesy of Lando Norris.

The McLaren is a difficult car to drive. There’s no question about that. While Norris adapted his driving style to suit the McLaren, Ricciardo couldn’t emulate what his young teammate was doing. It’s safe to say Norris ruined Ricciardo’s McLaren experience. Turns out he may be out to wreak another one of Ricciardo’s dreams.

After “damaging” Ricciardo, Lando Norris is coming after his fairytale

When the Honey Badger was at Red Bull, he was in his prime—winning races, getting podiums, smiling all the time. When he moved to McLaren, though, all of it came to a standstill, even his trademark smile. That’s when everyone knew something was wrong. But after rejoining the Red Bull family this season, there’s this reignited spark in him. Having expressed how much he wants to drive for Red Bull again—calling it his fairytale ending—Scott Mitchell-Malm and Mark Hughes discussed if he could return to peak form.

On The Race F1 Podcast, Hughes said, “I don’t think we’ll ever see Peak Daniel again. I don’t know how much damage has been done.” Referring to Norris’ exploits against him, the 23-year-old became a topic of conversation. “[Norris is] that wildcard option who is someone that Red Bull thinks extremely highly of, so much so that they’ve tried to sign him at least twice so far—once before he’d even got to F1. He’s definitely in that upper echelon of talents. He just hasn’t had the machinery to prove it in terms of the raw statistics,” said Mitchell-Malm.

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He continued, “Then, you get into the specifics of how Lando drives, how adaptable he’s been, and what he’s put up with at McLaren. Look at the way he buried Daniel Ricciardo in a car that was so difficult to drive. I think it stands to reason that Lando would be quite well suited to dealing with the particularities of Red Bull. Not just in terms of coping but also in getting the most out of it.” It’s clear they think Norris is one of the better-suited candidates for Red Bull. Considering his contract with McLaren expires in 2025, could he beat Ricciardo to Red Bull in 2026? Norris gave his thoughts on partnering with Max Verstappen.

Is Norris open to a partnership with Max Verstappen?

If the 2023 season has proved something, it’s that Norris and Verstappen are very good friends. With mutual respect, they rate each other very highly. On The Race F1 Podcast, Mitchell-Malm said, “Verstappen rates [Norris] extremely highly. Max said if you’d give him a race-winning car, Lando would be winning races, no question.” Considering how Red Bull has shown interest in him, Norris opened up about potentially teaming up with Verstappen.

During the Italian GP, Norris said, “It’s definitely something I would be open to in the future. I think I can happily say that Max is probably one of the best drivers ever in the history of F1.” With Verstappen revealing they’ve talked about it, even the Dutchman is looking forward to seeing what happens in the future. But Norris believes his future isn’t at Red Bull. The 23-year-old joked, “Maybe when Max is tired of winning, he can come to McLaren.”

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Is there a chance Daniel Ricciardo could return to Red Bull? Or is Lando Norris a real threat to his fairytale ending?