Daniel Ricciardo has been speaking about his recent improved form, and divulged that there have been some conversations between himself and McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown that helped him get there.
Ricciardo endured an extremely difficult opening seven races of the year, with a P6 in Australia and the Imola sprint constituting his only points.
The Australian was out-qualified seven times in the opening eight rounds of the year by the 22-year-old, but delivered a fine race in Baku, finishing eighth ahead of the Briton.
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He would then start the Canadian Grand Prix in ninth, and finished comfortably ahead of Norris in the race.
Ricciardo’s form of late has been a breath of fresh air to the Woking-based side, and it comes after some stinging public comments from Brown.
Following his P13 in Monaco, the 32-year-old had a few casual conversations with the American boss, and he has been working hard with the team in the factory to improve his fortunes.
“We’ve certainly had some chats – that sounds too formal – we’ve spent some time together,” said Ricciardo.
“It’s not like a once-a-year thing, or once every couple of months, but it’s also not like I needed a kick up the a**.
“I’m not silly. I know where my results are and I know what’s good and what isn’t.
“It’s really them trying to see if there’s anything they could do to help. I feel like we did have a little breakthrough after Monaco at the factory on the sim, we tried a few things.
“Even though our result [in Canada] wasn’t good, the last couple of weekends have certainly been better and shown more promise.”
Despite his own personal performances, the MCL36 continues to be a headache for McLaren as they try to find some consistency.
Ricciardo and Norris finished 11th and 15th respectively in Canada last time out, leaving Ricciardo 13th in the Drivers’ Standings, with Norris up ahead in seventh.
The Papaya squad have now stopped developing their 2022 iteration to focus on next year’s car.