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Published 19:28 IST, June 16th 2022

Daniel Ricciardo confident of finding his best at McLaren as questions rise about his form

As the pressure continues to rise on Daniel Ricciardo to deliver at McLaren F1, the Australian has insisted that he is not far away from finding his best.

Reported by: Vidit Dhawan
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Image: Instagram/@danielricciardo | Image: self
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As the pressure continues to rise on Daniel Ricciardo to deliver at McLaren F1, the Australian has insisted that he is not far away from finding his best with the team. Several reports have emerged that the British automobile manufacturer is keen on relieving the 32-year-old of his duties amid his poor form recently.

Daniel Ricciardo confident he can find his best with McLaren F1

Daniel Ricciardo believes that he is not low on self-confidence and that he can still return to his best if he gets more in tune with the car. According to F1.com, the former Toro Rosso-Ferrari racer said, "I still know what I can do. I still believe I have it and it's not a place of low confidence or low self-esteem where I'm like I don't think it's possible."

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He went on to add, "I think in this sport, everything operates at such a high level and if something is a little bit out of tune, then it can have a little bit of a carry-on effect. It's really for me to get back into that place when I'm fully in tune with the car, and then it will come. I have felt it before. It could come at any circuit, and I think from then, it will probably start to build again, some nice rhythm."

Ricciardo has undoubtedly struggled this season as he has managed just two top-10 finishes. His most recent came at the last race in Azerbaijan when he finished P8 ahead of McLaren F1 teammate Lando Norris. As a result of his poor performances, the Ricciardo trails Norris by 35 points in the championship, as he has got only 15 points till now.

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While Ricciardo is confident of seeing an improvement soon in his performance, he admits that it has taken him a while to do so. "It's taken longer than I would've liked to get the results and consistency week in, week out, but it's not far off," added a confident Ricciardo.

"I don't want to keep talking about Monza, but there were times last year where I was able to show that I can make it work with this car. And I do think we are closer this year than last year funnily enough, so just going to cross the line now with fewer people in front of me and more behind me and everything is sweet," explained the athlete. Ricciardo grabbed a famous win at Monza last year as he was one of the very few drivers to do so, with most of the races being dominated by either Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel.

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19:28 IST, June 16th 2022