Ricciardo optimistic despite McLaren problems

The 32-year-old has failed to live up to expectations since joining McLaren ahead of the 2021 season, registering just one podium finish while being repeatedly outclassed by younger teammate Lando Norris.Murmurs that Ricciardo’s contract could be torn up a year early grew in volume after last month’s Monaco Grand Prix, where the Perth driver finished 13th.Watch Every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >But the Perth driver showed promising signs in Baku on the weekend, finishing eighth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite struggling to match his rivals on the street circuit’s lengthy straights.Formula 1 returns to Montreal this weekend, and Ricciardo is determined to prove he hasn’t lost his competitive edge at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he won his first F1 race in 2014.“Stripping it back to the core, I still know what I can do,” he told the F1 website.“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.“I think at 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, then it will probably start to build again, some nice rhythm.”Ricciardo’s issues with the McLaren car are well-documented – the unfamiliar braking system frustrated him last year, while almost every driver on the grid has complained about porpoising.“I mean, even with the changes this year, there is certainly still some things that carry over from last year’s car, and some things the car did last year, it still does this year,” he said.“So, it’s still trying to get on top of that. But it’s a place where I didn’t really find these issues in the past, that’s why it’s something a little bit new or unfamiliar for me. But as you said, 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.“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 were closer this year than last year funnily enough, so just going to cross the line now with less people in front of me and more behind me and everything is sweet.”Ricciardo is currently 13th on the drivers’ standings with 15 points, sitting six spots below Norris on 50 points.Despite growing speculation about Ricciardo’s future in the sport, McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has once again thrown his support behind the Aussie.“I think we all put a bit too much focus on this broken record at the moment,” he told F1 Nation podcast.“Daniel is very experienced, he’s working hard together with the team in order to deliver results similar to Lando.“So actually within the team, it’s not such a big topic as it is made at the moment.”The Canadian Grand Prix gets underway on Monday morning, with lights out scheduled for 4am AEST. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au