McLaren team boss, Andreas Seidl insists that Daniel Ricciardo's lack of sustained form this season is not due to the chassis.

Many expected the ever-smiling Australian to walk into Woking, slide his feet under the table and gradually become the de facto Number One. However, it was not to be.

Teammate Lando Norris has had the upper hand from the outset, outpacing the Australian in almost every session, qualifying (on average) around 6th while Ricciardo just about scrapes into Q3.

Three podium finishes see Norris head into the summer break fourth in the overall standings, while Ricciardo, whose best finish was fifth at Silverstone, is eighth with less than half the points.

From the outset, Ricciardo has insisted that the root of his problems was a case of getting used to the car, and while some point to how a change of chassis turned Esteban Ocon's fortunes around, Andreas Seidl says this is not the case as far as the Australian is concerned.

"I think we've done one swap this year, or one change," the German revealed. "I don't want to say when it was because it will create headlines, but I think I know when we swapped.

"As part of our normal, let's say programme, how we use our parts, there is a scheduled rotation of monocoques," Seidl continued. "On Daniel's side, we already changed two times this year.

"But again, there's nothing on the monocoque side," he added, " we clearly see what the issues are that Daniel is also describing, that has nothing to do with parts and so on.

"It has to do with characteristics of our car, and in the end, it's a combination of Daniel still getting used to our car but at the same time, he also has a team-mate that is in an unbelievable form. That's where we see this gap from time to time."

"That sort of stuff, I obviously put my trust in the team to check everything over," said Ricciardo of the chassis changes. "When the season's not going great, I don't want to be like 'oh, change this, change that' and turn everything upside down.

"I think they're doing the full analysis and if they feel the need to change, say, chassis or something, I obviously trust that they'll do it. I don't want to just throw everything at it and come across as like I'm making excuses or anything like that."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Mad Matt, 11/08/2021 8:08

"@kenji Thanks, hadn't seen that. I suppose the positive is that they know what the problem is and in my opinion fixing it next year should benefit both drivers. A shame that it can't be fixed this year though!"

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2. Posted by kenji, 11/08/2021 1:47

"@ Mad Matt...I forgot to mention here that Seidl has confirmed what I said insofar as he states, ' It [ Daniels deficits ] has to do with the characteristics of our car...' McLaren know exactly what is not working for him but they won't be changing anything further due to the new '22 car now taking priority."

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3. Posted by kenji, 11/08/2021 1:42

"@ Mad Matt thanks for your response. I read a while back that Ricciardo's biggest problem is that carrying so much speed into some corners leaves him feeling uncomfortable due to the combination of actual mechanical braking combined with retardation due to engine braking. When he raced at Silverstone it wasn't too much of a problem as he was comfortable with the fast flowing nature of the circuit whereas tight twisty circuits with slow corners are a problem. His signature style of 'late braking' therefore is curtailed somewhat resulting in a deficit to Norris who is in his third season driving this style of car/braking set up. Evidently, according to other ex drivers, the McLaren is rather unique in this aspect. Sainz has already acknowledged this 'querk'. I'm absolutely certain that Ricciardo is working to the extreme to get this settled and we can only hope that he finds a solution sometime soon"

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4. Posted by Mad Matt, 10/08/2021 14:06

"Thanks @kenji, I had read some of his comments... and now I've read some more :-) I can imagine the problems he's having, I too tried left foot braking some years ago and it is somewhat awkward at first.

I can't help but be curious as to what it is which is so unnatural for him but I guess that's something we'll probably never find out.

I've always quite liked Daniel's driving style and I've watched Lando come up from Ginetta juniors so I'd like to see them both do well."

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5. Posted by kenji, 10/08/2021 0:13

"@Mad Matt...If you get the chance read Andrea Stella's comments on what appears to be the reason why Daniel is not getting quite the same performance as they have all expected. Changing a driving style from what is a natural feel/style is difficult to do. As an example many years ago I tried to perfect left foot braking in my everyday drive. It took a lot of time to perfect it and even now it still feels strange. Like many others, I hope that the second half will see Ricciardo return to his confident and self assured success in this car. When it works he's exceptionally entertaining."

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6. Posted by Mad Matt, 09/08/2021 15:26

"While I'm happy to see cost caps and cost cutting I agree that the pre-season testing has been reduced to ridiculous levels. Obviously practicing tennis costs a lot less than a track day in an F1 car but even so....

I'm a bit surprised that Daniel hasn't got on the pace sooner as Carlos seemed to be able to drive the previous car as well as Lando so I didn't think we were in a RedBull like situation. I can only hope his season can still be saved as it's a crying shame to see such talent blunted.

It seems that in F1 a small problem can lead to a lot of lost time but on the other hand, once that problem is overcome the gains can also be large."

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7. Posted by kenji, 09/08/2021 10:52

"@ Max Noble...good points. I see it as basically down to two issues. Daniels come into a team with an existing style/modus operandi and a car that,in regards to performance, needs to be driven in a specialised manner in order to maximise the potential. Because this year is one of transition to the new regs McLaren will be loathe to make any major changes/tweaks to suit DR's specific needs. That is fully understandable. Secondly he's under tremendous pressure to produce better performances and this can be extremely limiting when he's being forced to drive in a manner that's alien to his natural talent.

McLaren have been extremely supportive as I'm sure that they now understand the problems much better and will be doing all that they can to build a new car that will play to his natural talents whilst being complimentary to Norris as well. Ricciardo has the chops and is a known performer that also knows how to win when he's given the car and the opportunity. He simply won't give up and despite all the creeping antagonism coming from some of the British based media Daniel's too professional to let it undermine him. I wish him well and look forward to him getting on top of it all, then we're back being entertained by his exciting on track talent."

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8. Posted by Max Noble, 09/08/2021 9:45

"I’m not at Daniel’s level in any sport… by a long way… but I know that even with my modest ability, some equipment simply does not work for how I “play the game”. You need equipment that is reliable; works consistently; and plays to your strengths in terms of technique.
…and then Daniel is hampered by the daft limits on track time. As I’ve noted before, can you imagine if Tennis said that in the interest of a “good game” Federer, Nadal, and Novak would be limited to six hours a month on court so the others can catch up… I mean really…"

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Ricciardo's problem not down to chassis insists Seidl

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