Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz wouldn’t have predicted how McLaren has evolved and rose up to take the fight to Red Bull in F1 2024.
The rise of McLaren has certainly caught the eye of the F1 paddock. In the recent years, they have found itself regular on the podium with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while also fighting for race wins against Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
It wasn’t like that some years ago, especially when the likes of Visa Cash App RB’s Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Sainz were driving for McLaren. The former replaced the latter where both raced alongside Norris in the time when they weren’t regular on the podium.
The Australian had a troubled time despite the F1 win, while the latter had a slightly better run with odd podium finishes. But both admit that they wouldn’t have predicted such rise of McLaren in a rather short period of time after they left the F1 team.
“I mean, I won a race there, so I don’t know what you’re talking about, I had heaps of success there,” joked Ricciardo. “Oh, it’s hard. Obviously, most of my time there was a bit more of a struggle or a challenge. So, look, did I predict this? I’m not going to say yes, because I don’t think I did.
“So I guess from that point of view, it is a bit of a surprise that in two years, less than two years, they are probably currently the quickest package on the grid. But I also don’t look at that like, ‘oh man, like if only I could have had that’. That’s the sport, that’s how it is. You take your hat off to them.
“Anyone in this sport that’s doing well and developing and making such a big step in a short amount of time, you have to compliment that,” summed up Ricciardo. At the same time, Sainz added: “I wouldn’t say I would have ever predicted it. I think when I left McLaren four years ago, I did have the feeling the team was going in the right way and it was a very good place to be and I enjoyed my time there.
“So, when I left, I left with a feeling that it was more maybe a matter of time – it was going to take them two years, four years, six years to be McLaren again, which we all know how much success they’ve had in history. But I do feel they were the right people at the time to lead that team towards the front of the field again.
“And yeah, it took three to four years since I left. And especially this last year, I think, is when they’ve shown the real strength and the big steps, which have come in a very short amount of time, but very, very big. And as Daniel said, hats off to them,” summed up Sainz.
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