Daniel Ricciardo admitted he could not understand how Lando Norris was able to tame his tricky McLaren car this year as he addressed the obvious comparison between them.
Ricciardo had his time with the team cut short by a year as he struggled to adapt and produce the form and results expected from a driver of his calibre. But while he was unable to get to grips with the MCL36 this year, Norris still managed to score points regularly and finished above every other driver not racing for one of the 'big three' teams.
The situation led to obvious comparisons between them, questioning why Ricciardo wasn't able to perform if Norris could still manage to get results in a tricky car. On that same subject, the Aussie admits he does not have all the answers himself.
"Obviously, we have so much data, and I'll watch Lando's onboards as well," he told The Race. "And I'll see sometimes what he's able to do, and I'm just like, 'Okay, I can see it, but I can't do it'. And I'm like, 'why won't it just rotate, or do that?'
"The race pace as well... sometimes the race pace I'm like eight-tenths a lap slower. And I'm just like, how? When you're not on the limit of the car as well, that's a bigger concern for me. And even in debriefs, you'll hear from Lando 'Oh, this stint of the race, I could really feel the car was working there, it kind of came alive' where I'm just like, I never had that feeling."
Asked why he was unable to handle the car as well as Norris, even though both of them disliked the feel of itm, Ricciardo suggested his past experience of other machines could have played a part. He added: "I'll never take credit away from him – the kid's good. There's no denying that. And if I say he's not, then I'm just being a bitter, sore loser.
"The kid's good. That's obviously one element, he can steer. The second is, ignorance is bliss. And I'm not saying he's got no knowledge of race cars, not at all. I think he's quite actually in tune with what he does, from a technical point of view. But it's the only F1 car he's driven. Obviously, there's been variations of the McLaren, but he hasn't driven for another team.
"So in a way he has got, I'm sure, used to some of the elements of this car. There's probably a bit of that, where I've obviously got some – I hate this word, but I've just got to use it for a lack of better words right now – expectation of maybe what a Formula 1 car can do or should do or where some potential lies.
"He does now, because he watches onboards, and he sees what other drivers can do – 'Yeah, I wish we could do that, the rear doesn't do what I want'. But ultimately, he hasn't been behind the wheel of another car. So obviously, he's good. And there's an element of 'ignorance is bliss'."
