AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo has shed light on the factors behind his recent career slump, appearing to direct blame towards his former team, McLaren.
In contrast, he praised Alpha Tauri, where he replaced Nyck de Vries, for their receptive approach to his engineering input, leading to improved performance.
Dr. Helmut Marko, a key figure at Red Bull, acknowledged that his decision to bring in Ricciardo at AlphaTauri was ultimately fruitful.
The Faenza-based team embraced Ricciardo’s driving style and valued his input during engineering briefings, providing him the space to express his insights and ideas.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
“They just let me do it with my natural driving style,” Ricciardo stated.
“I noticed that they were curious and wanted to hear my opinion in the briefings.
“I was able to give them some new food for thought, but I didn’t want to overload them with 100 things over the first weekend.”
The positive experience at Alpha Tauri contrasts with Ricciardo’s time at McLaren, where he struggled to find his footing and achieve the desired results.
While Ricciardo refrained from delving deeply into the specifics of his stint at McLaren, he hinted that the engineering team was less receptive to his input, which might have contributed to the challenges he faced.
“I don’t really want to talk about the time at McLaren anymore,” Ricciardo stated.
READ: Lando Norris admits he’s concerned about 2023 Belgian GP
“But back then, during the first summer break, I realised that we were going about things the wrong way, although obviously, everyone was acting in the team’s best interest.
“But, looking back, you’d have to say that we probably just did too much.”
Despite his struggles at McLaren, Ricciardo managed to seize an opportunity to join the main Red Bull team by outperforming his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda in Hungary, securing the coveted race seat previously held by Sergio Perez.