The reasons behind Ricciardo’s McLaren Formula 1 struggles

While his sensational Monza victory, McLaren’s first for nearly nine years, was a reminder of his undeniable talent, it will stand as an outlier result from his time at Woking, bar any shock heroics in the second half of the season.

Few thought things would end like this. Ricciardo’s arrival for 2021 was seen as a coup for McLaren, snaring the Australian away from Enstone – an act it is now set to repeat with Oscar Piastri. Ricciardo’s struggles through last season were put down to acclimatising to a new car philosophy, which were gradually ironed out and led to his Monza victory. Surely it was cured for season two with McLaren.

And yet the struggles not only continued, but deepened. After 13 races in 2021, Ricciardo had 56 points on the board and nine points finishes. His haul this year? Just 19 points from five races, three of which came for sixth in the Imola sprint.

So why has Ricciardo struggled so much with McLaren’s Formula 1 cars over the past two years?

The important thing to bear in mind is that while the 2022 regulations may have heralded a technical overhaul for F1, they did not eradicate many of the characteristics of the McLaren car that made it so tricky to drive last year. The MCL36, just like the MCL35M, excels in high-speed corners but struggles more when it comes to the medium-speed stuff.

At the end of last year, McLaren technical director James Key spoke of a desire to attack the weaknesses and “account for them with a blank sheet of paper”, ensuring there were “no legacy built in behaviours in a new car like that.” But Ricciardo ended up encountering the same struggles with the new car.

“The regulations make the car feel different, but the DNA of the car is still very similar,” Ricciardo  told Motorsport.com in an interview ahead of F1’s summer break, before plans for him to be replaced by Piastri were set into motion.

“Some of the things from last year which I struggled with, they are still in this car. It’s something I think we are starting to understand better what it is. Because obviously I tried to describe it, but to really understand, is it aero, is it is geometry, like… you know what I mean? We are starting to understand better what it is, and Lando also does complain about it. I think he’s just used to it.”

Norris will hold his hands up and admit he’s in a similar boat with the quirks of this year’s McLaren…