McLaren doesn’t blame Ricciardo after failing to beat Alpine
The 2022 season was particularly complicated for McLaren, which finished the championship in 5th place. The British team suffered from the new regulations, with a poorly performing car at the start of the season. However, Lando Norris was able to take advantage of on-track opportunities to battle it out with the Alpines. Daniel Ricciardo was behind the pace and earned the team very few points, but McLaren didn't put the blame on the Australian driver.
McLaren has been one of the main underdogs in recent seasons. The English team finished in 3rd place in the constructor’s championship in 2020 and 4th in 2021. They could have come even closer to the top teams with the arrival of the new regulations. Unfortunately, the MCL36 struggled against the new strong force in the midfield, Alpine and their A522. However, despite having better performances than McLaren, the French car had numerous reliability issues. Lando Norris was able to capitalize on opportunities to score big points, allowing his team to be part of the fight for 4th place in the constructor’s championship.
A lack of success
His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, did not manage to adapt to his car. The Australian driver has only scored 37 points this season out of the team’s total of 159. Despite this deficit, McLaren does not blame their driver. Andreas Seidl reflects on this difficult situation that the English team has experienced throughout the season.
“I am far from blaming Daniel for not finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship this year,” affirmed the team principal to Motorsport.com.
I am also aware of my responsibility and that of the team, which did not manage to work well with Daniel as we had hoped, despite his deep commitment and ours. It is part of not scoring the points we wanted or could have scored, it’s part of F1 and it’s something we are trying to improve for next year.
A well-deserved position.
The team’s 5th place finish in the constructor championship is justified according to Andreas Seidl. Alpine has been better than the British team according to him. The superior performances of the A522 proved to be too much for a McLaren that was more reliable but less quick.
In the end, if we finish the season in fifth place, that’s the position we deserve and it’s also a fair reflection of our performances throughout the season. We simply have to acknowledge that Alpine has done a better job than us this year.
A great race for Ricciardo’s farewell
Daniel Ricciardo was competing in his last race for McLaren in Abu Dhabi. He will be replaced by his compatriot Oscar Piastri in 2023. The Australian driver had a superb weekend for this final Grand Prix of the season and finished in the points after starting from 13th place on the grid.
(I) I wished Daniel a good race for the last time, it was emotional. It was great to see him having a good race for us. Coming back into the points from 13th place is the result of excellent driving and excellent work from his side of the garage and the pit wall. I think we finished our story on the best possible note, which was the goal after all the announcements during the summer break.
