Daniel Ricciardo had to ‘swallow pride’ following McLaren team orders

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo was asked to give way to his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday.

Ricciardo finished sixth at Imola, while Norris surged ahead to take third place behind race winner Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in second.

It was a challenging F1® race for Ricciardo, who started from sixth on the grid in changing conditions.

The team order came through to Ricciardo early on, with Norris clearly faster than the Aussie at that point.

“That’s where I’ve got to swallow my pride,” Ricciardo said.

“The team were fair enough; they gave me time to try and show my pace.

“There were some laps where I had a bit and I could do a decent time, but they gave me the time to show what I had and today it wasn’t enough, so I’m not going to get into fisticuffs over it.”

Ricciardo, who joined McLaren from Renault for the 2021 season, is seventh in the drivers’ standings after two races, while Norris is third, and McLaren is third in the constructors’ championship.

“Certainly not an awesome race, but I think to come home sixth is good for the constructors’ points with Lando in third,” Ricciardo added.

“Congrats to Lando, he had a great race and it’s awesome to see the car has the pace. My race pace was nothing too special. I’ve just got to keep working on it and improve.”