Lando Norris says he has no sympathy for Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles to get in shape with the McLaren MCL36 Formula 1 car. Norris insists that initially this year’s car didn’t suit him either and he had to change his driving style to compete at a high level.
The Briton says he tried to help Ricciardo by sharing information but insists that ultimately it’s not his job to help his team-mate get going.
When asked if he had sympathy for Ricciardo’s situation, since the MCL36 is very difficult to drive, Norris made his position clear: “I hate to say it, but I would say no,” said the Brit. “People would probably hate me if I said that.”
“It’s difficult because you never know if I might come across something like that in the future with this car or with another team. So I never want to contradict myself when I go into the future. I just have to focus on my Driving and concentrating on my job. It’s not my job to focus on anyone else.”
“I’m not a driver coach, I’m not here to help and do things like that. I’m here to do my best and that’s it. So it’s difficult when people have an expectation that it’s my job is to do these other things too, although that’s not really the case,” says the McLaren driver.
“And it’s also that if I don’t perform well for a couple of years, it can also be the end of my career, the end of my driving and the end of Formula 1. So I have to take care of myself most of the time Concentrate. And every driver has to adapt to the circumstances they’re in and I feel like I had to do that.”
“It’s not a car I can just get into”
Norris also emphasizes that the MCL36 is not easy for him to drive either: “It’s not a car that I can just get into and feel comfortable with and that I can drive the way I want,” he says .
“Earlier in the year, Daniel was better than me in pre-season testing. And it looked like he could just drive the car the way he wanted. I had to learn a new way of driving, like I’ve done in the last few I was used to driving the car for three years, so I felt like I had to adapt and so did he.”
“But I don’t feel like you have to feel sorry for any driver on the grid because he wasn’t able to do such a good job,” Norris said.