Lando Norris was full of praise for former McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo following the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Briton having revealed how “crucial” the Australian has been to making him a “better person”.
Norris was partnered by Ricciardo at McLaren during 2021 and 2022, two seasons where the 23-year-old was comfortably the team’s number one driver.
The Briton is arguably being pushed harder now by rookie Oscar Piastri than he ever was done by Ricciardo, who struggled to adjust to the Woking-based team.
As a result of his struggles, Ricciardo went through some incredibly low spells; however, he was still always seen with a beaming smile on his face.
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Norris noted how Ricciardo is good at “hiding” his real emotions when dealing with “tough times”, something he’s experienced plenty of throughout his career.
Even in his final few months at Red Bull as a driver in 2018, Ricciardo was becoming disgruntled with how Max Verstappen was seemingly being treated differently, something which is believed to have played a part in his switch to Renault for the 2019 season.
Norris admitted that if he’d been in Ricciardo’s position in the past, then he wouldn’t be able to stay as “happy” as the 33-year-old has, with the McLaren driver revealing just how much he’s learnt about himself from having worked with the fan favourite.
“I think his experience and mentality, to me, was always crucial in helping me become a better person, a better driver,” Norris told the media.
“Daniel has always done a good job at hiding or just dealing with tough times. That’s something I really admired with what he’s done. I probably wouldn’t be able to look back and really be as happy as what he’s been in the past if I was in a similar position.
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“So that’s something I really do admire and try to be more like when I go through tough times.”
Norris is still often seen with Ricciardo whenever the Australian is in the paddock, something which has been a rarity so far this year.
As part of his new role as Red Bull’s development driver, he’s not required to attend every Grand Prix, with him having so far only attended the races in Australia, Miami and Monaco.