Formula 1 Monaco GP

McLaren will help Ricciardo "recalibrate" - Seidl

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says his team will help Daniel Ricciardo "recalibrate" after a disappointing qualifying for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.

Filip Cleeren

Edited: Feb 11, 2022, 6:41 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Ricciardo has had a rough transition from Renault to McLaren thus far but made what he called a "mini breakthrough" in the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing sixth after qualifying seventh on the grid.

Two weeks later, the Australian appeared to have made a step backwards with his adjustment to the McLaren MCL35M in Monaco, failing to progress to Q3 on Saturday and starting down in 12th at a race he won in 2018.

Immediately after qualifying, Ricciardo said he was puzzled by the large gap to teammate Lando Norris and said he would "ask the question" if there were other factors at play beyond his driving style adjustment.

Read Also:

McLaren will help Ricciardo "recalibrate" - Seidl

McLaren team boss Seidl said the team found some answers on Ricciardo's struggles in the telemetry and said it will help him "recalibrate" to solve the issue in the coming races.

"I think this track simply emphasises even more the struggles he's still having with our car and looking at the data we have a clear idea of what the issue is," Seidl explained.

"Our car simply needs a certain way of how to drive it in order to extract maximum performance. Lando is obviously used to it and manages it. But it just doesn't feel natural for Daniel with everything he has is driven in the past.

"It's simply important to stay calm, even after a disappointing result like today, keep working together as one team, keep analysing the data, keep learning from them.

"And then have let's say two actions in place, which is trying together with Daniel to recalibrate him to a certain degree in order to adjust his driving style for our car.

"But of course we look also on the team side to see if we can adjust the car in order to make it more natural for him to drive fast so that he has to think less, without obviously compromising the overall performance."

When asked about Ricciardo's post-qualifying comments on potential underlying issues with the car, Seidl said those words "should be put in context" coming immediately after stepping out of the car.

"One reason why I love the sport and why you guys love the sport is because it's a human sport and we like the emotions from team members or drivers after good or bad sessions," Seidl added.

"And that's why I think you also have to put in context the quotes from Daniel after qualifying.

"As I said before we have when we look into the data have clear idea of why Daniel couldn't produce the laptime in Q2 to progress to Q3."

Later on, Ricciardo added the differences with Norris were visible in the data, including braking technique, but that the difficult part would be to execute on what the telemetry brought to light.

"There are some differences, some of its visible and I see it and I'm like: 'Okay, that would help doing that in that corner'," Ricciardo said on Saturday night.

"I think the difficulty is executing that and kind of perfecting that, so that's something I've just got to keep working on.

"I think for now, this track probably emphasises that it's not that natural for me. So that's personal, I'm still trying to recalibrate in my brain and in my style."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Archive: Monaco's magic F1 moments as told by the stars

Next article Ferrari: ‘Extreme’ qualifying focus paid off with Monaco pole

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship

ARCA

ARCA ARCA 7 h

Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship

IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 10 h

IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat

Five things to look out for at the F1 Mexico GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

12 h

Five things to look out for at the F1 Mexico GP

Every time NASCAR took a win away due yellow line violations

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Talladega II

12 h

Every time NASCAR took a win away due yellow line violations

Feature

Discover prime content

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

How Verstappen and Antonelli were both “surprised” in United States GP qualifying

Formula 1

United States GP

By Stuart Codling

How Verstappen and Antonelli were both “surprised” in United States GP qualifying

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts