Helmut Marko hopes Daniel Ricciardo bounces back in his current McLaren struggles, but only as far as third place “behind” Red Bull’s two drivers.
Racing at home for the first time since 2019, Ricciardo is dreaming of a points-scoring finish at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
That, however, is about as high as McLaren can aim right now given their “fundamental problems” with the MCL36.
The team has scored six points in two races with Ricciardo yet to get off the mark, his best result being his P14 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Marko, one of his former bosses at Red Bull, hopes the Aussie comes good sooner rather than later.
Ricciardo's results at the last 5️⃣ home races ??
Who wouldn't want to see a shoey at the Australian GP this weekend ??#F1 #Formula1 #DanielRicciardo #McLaren #Motorsport pic.twitter.com/K9OEE7KYSB
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) April 6, 2022
“Daniel still seems to be having a hard time at McLaren,” grandprix.com quotes him as having told Sport1.
“But writing him off would be a mistake. We know what he can do.
“And not just because he looked strong against Vettel in 2014, but because no one else here has been on par with Max Verstappen. And it wasn’t that long ago.”
Ricciardo was team-mates with Verstappen from 2016 to 2018 and beat the Dutchman in all but their last season together.
But while the Red Bull motorsport advisor wants to see Ricciardo back on the podium, he doesn’t want him to be too good.
“I wish him success,” Marko added, “but it’s enough if he finishes third behind our two drivers.”
As for Ricciardo, while a point in Melbourne would be a good result, he is ultimately dreaming of adding a ninth F1 grand prix win to his tally before the season is out.
“If it comes, it will come a bit later than certainly desired,” he told The Race, “but without getting ahead of ourselves, if we were to come and win a race at some point this year, I wouldn’t actually be surprised.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise to me because I still believe in the team and the process we have in place and the people we have in place to get the job done.”
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