Daniel Ricciardo: “I have good confidence and hopefully it turns into better days to come”

McLaren F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris worked their way into the top ten during the Australian Grand Prix’s Friday practice sessions, with both drivers showing optimism for the team’s current trajectory.

Ricciardo finished eighth and tenth in Free Practice One and Two, respectively, completing a cumulative forty-seven laps. Having experienced the new modifications made to the Albert Park Circuit for the first time, he said that he is pleased with the changes overall.

“It was a good day, just getting back into the groove here in Melbourne, and I enjoyed it. The layout has always been fun, but it now has some additional changes to it and for the most part, I like them. Both cars ended in the top ten in both sessions today, so hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for the weekend.”

Ricciardo is going into his home Grand Prix with a positive outlook, and looks to keep moving forward with the car. Yet to score points this season, he hopes that “better days” lie ahead.

“We’re in a decent place with the car and we’ll just keep at it. We will try to adapt with the track in terms of changes for the rest of the weekend to stay on top of it. I have good confidence and hopefully it turns into better days to come.”

“Today was one of our better days so far this season” – Lando Norris

Norris filled in fifth for Friday’s first session and eighth for the second, around a second off the pace in both . In total, he completed forty-six laps. In line with his teammate, he believed the car was in a good place from the beginning of the weekend. 

“Today was one of our better days so far this season. I think we started off the day well with a good balance and just made further improvements, moving in a decent direction.”

Norris drew similarities to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the initial runs, a venue where he felt the team ran well. Moving forward, he looks to improve and build-off of this foundation to be best prepared ahead of qualifying.

“So far it looks similar to Jeddah, which is a good thing for us, because that was a decent weekend. Things are looking reasonably good, there’s still a bit more to improve, so that’s our job going into qualifying tomorrow.”