Norris theorizes on cause for Ricciardo's struggles at McLaren

Lando Norris believes a tricky new-generation car and difficulties in adapting his driving style are in large part behind Daniel Ricciardo's persistent struggles at McLaren.

Ricciardo's 2022 season hasn't seen the Aussie really improve his performance level relative to Norris.

Save on two occasions - in Spain and in Canada - Norris has outqualified his teammate at every single race this season, and outscored Ricciardo on race day by 47 points.

Regardless of the conditions or the track layout, Ricciardo's struggles persists. And Norris has a few thoughts on why his side of the garage at McLaren is performing better.

"I struggled at the beginning of the season probably with my driving style a bit more than what Daniel struggled with initially in the first few tests, and I feel like I had to adapt quite a bit," Norris told Formula1.com.

"Some of my feelings are not translated to his feelings. And how we drive the cars is slightly different as well.

"I prefer a car with… I don’t mind as much instability from the car and kind of can push on the fronts more, and he prefers a car that is a bit more stable and made with a little more understeer."

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Norris says the "unique" characteristics of McLaren's cars – present and past – have always required a faculty to adapt that can prove problematic for some drivers. And this holds particularly true for this year's ground-effect MCL36.

"I do feel like it’s a difficult car to drive, our car," Norris acknowledged.

"You know, I think our characteristics which he’s also had over the past few years, even Carlos [Sainz] said it, they’re quite specific and unique.

"So some of the driving styles you need are like not ones you kind of grow up learning, and therefore you have to adapt quite a bit.

"Especially this year, the car’s very different, and some of the characteristics of last year are gone and we’ve introduced some other characteristics, so I’ve had to change my driving style.

"At the same time, I’ve also had to adapt to it. It’s not just because I’ve been with McLaren for four years that I know this car inside-out."

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