Daniel Ricciardo will perform well at some of the more “conventional circuits” left on the 2021 calendar, British F1 commentator Ben Edwards has said.
The Australian driver joined McLaren from Renault with high expectations at the end of last year, but he has struggled to get to grips with the Woking-based team’s 2021 challenger.
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His struggles have been compounded by his younger team-mate, Lando Norris, having a stellar season thus far, with him almost taking pole position in Austria and scoring three podiums.
However, Edwards believes that Ricciardo can bounce back this year and he expects him to have an uptick in form at the “conventional circuits” that Formula 1 will race at just after the summer break.
“I feel disappointed for Daniel… he’s a real talent, he’s superb and he has a great approach to Formula 1, so to see what he’s going through is disappointing,” Edwards said on the In The Fast Lane podcast.
“I think he can still come back, I really do, actually the next few races after this summer break will be very interesting, we’re going back to early conventional circuits… I think he will deliver there.
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“I think this summer break might help him, he just needs to rejig a bit, I know he’s got the talent to be able to deliver and I really believe he can do it.”
Ricciardo Might Walk Away From McLaren In 2022
Ricciardo could leave McLaren if he continues to struggle at the team in 2022, as he is unlikely to continue to tolerate “sub-standard performance from himself,” according to British F1 journalist Mark Hughes.
In his latest column for The Race, Hughes opined that Ricciardo would consider walking away from McLaren next year if he continues to be comprehensively outperformed by Norris.
“Both sides desperately want this to work and their working relationship is terrific, the team full of admiration for how his demeanour with his crew never wavers in its positivity despite his difficulties,” he wrote.
“But if there is still no progress in the remainder of this year, he has to be looking at the radical regulation reset of next year as his salvation.
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“With everyone’s car by definition unrelated to those of the previous seasons, will the ’22 McLaren prove less unusual in its traits and allow him to express himself in the cockpit more naturally?
“Because if not, and the hangover of this car remains, it’s difficult to conceive someone of Ricciardo’s competitive intensity tolerating sub-standard performance from himself.”
“In such a situation McLaren probably wouldn’t even need to have the awkward conversation. He might well relieve them of it.
“For the sake of Ricciardo, McLaren and F1 let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Everyone wants to see the real Ricciardo back,” Hughes added.