Daniel Ricciardo is back home in Australia for the third race of the season. The Aussie driver and his McLaren MCL36 don’t look strong this season to win any podiums. However, Helmut Marko claims the former Red Bull driver can win podiums but only behind the current Red Bull line-up.

The Honey Badger got to great heights with Red Bull in the past. Many F1 fans even saw him as a potential world championship winner. However, those hopes crashed ever since he left the Austrian F1 team. At the moment, Ricciardo is struggling with his new team McLaren, which he joined last season.

Helmut Marko on the former Red Bull driver

The Red Bull advisor spent a long time on the same team with the 32-year-old driver. But although the two are no longer associated with each other, Marko still thinks of Ricciardo as one of the best. He even knows about the Aussie’s struggles at the Woking base.

Being the advisor for the team Daniel once drove for, Marko is aware of Ricciardo’s talent as a driver and what he can do in a race. So, the Red Bull Boss wished for the former Red Bull driver for the future races this season. However, Marko also states that Ricciardo can only finish third because of the strong Red Bull line-up, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Marko said, “Daniel still seems to be having a hard time at McLaren. But writing him off would be a mistake. We know what he can do. And not just because he looked strong against Vettel in 2014, but because no one else here has been on par with Max Verstappen. And it wasn’t that long ago.”

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“I wish him success,” The Red Bull advisor continued. “But it’s enough if he finishes third behind our two drivers.”

How the 2022 season has turned out for Daniel Ricciardo?

The Aussie had a tough season last year with McLaren, especially in the first half of the season. He improved in the second half and even won the Monza race. Hoping to build on that, Daniel looked forward to winning podiums with McLaren this season. But he couldn’t and is struggling with the 2022 challenger MCL36.

Ricciardo finished P14 in the season opener this season and couldn’t even finish the second race that took place in Jeddah. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris finished behind him at P15 in Bahrain but bagged 6 points for the British F1 team with a P7 finish in Jeddah.

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The Honey Badger will race in the Australian GP in front of the home crown. So, it would be fascinating to see how the homeboy Ricciardo performs in Australia. What are your predictions for Danial this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.