"I won’t go down without a fight," vows Daniel Ricciardo as Zak Brown's 'expectation' comment sees the media vultures circle.

Though he has since sought to play down his comment that Daniel Ricciardo has not lived up to expectations, Zak Brown's words were all that were needed for the usual suspects to share their insight with the world.

Ignoring the usual insane, nonsensical clickbait headlines from the tabloids and others, even former drivers have leapt into the debate.

Fact is, Ricciardo was lured from Renault with the intention of being number one - or at least equal - to Lando Norris, but for the most part the Briton has seen off the Australian.

However, as was the case with Ricciardo's former teammate, Sebastian Vettel, drivers don't suddenly forget how to drive, certainly drivers of the calibre of Ricciardo.

Speaking in Monaco, team boss, Andreas Seidl, the man who truly orchestrated McLaren's rise up the grid, and who works far closer to the drivers than publicity-hungry Brown, gave his support to the Australian.

"I see that differently," he said of Brown's infamous expectations comment. "Barcelona, in the race for Daniel, it was simply not possible to do a better pace," he continued.

"That's something we had to analyse after the race, which we did, and we found an issue on the car, which gave us an explanation, which was important, and we learned from that. We have actions in place in order to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Daniel says himself that he still doesn't feel let's say 100% with the car, especially when it's about pushing it to the absolute limit in qualifying. He's up against a very strong team(mate) as well, with Lando, and if you put both things together, that's the gap we are sometimes seeing.

"And all we can do, together with Daniel, with a commitment on both sides, is to simply keep working hard in order to find these last percentages. And that's where we all spend our energy on."

Ricciardo's weekend got off to the worst possible start when he crashed on his first flying lap in FP2, having finished seventh in the opening session.

"We, as a team, tried to push probably too much, together with Daniel, and that's why we had the crash," explained Seidl, again taking the driver's side as opposed to further, and publicly, demoralising him.

"In the end, that can happen here in Monaco," said the German. "Obviously you want to avoid it, it is not ideal missing out on a on an entire session, but Daniel is experienced enough, we are experienced enough as a team to leave that behind us today and go again."

However, that was before another tough race that saw Ricciardo finish a distant 13th.

"Obviously, a tough weekend to take," said the Australian, "unfortunately I’m experienced with these, had a few of them the last 12 months, so I feel like I can handle them a little bit better.

"Therefore, I will continue to smile or at least try to smile," he added, according to the official F1 website, "but deep down I'm obviously disappointed.

"There is still some stuff to get on top of, and obviously it’s been a while now, so I wish it still wasn’t the case," he admitted, "but I think the reality is that there will be some tracks where it just clicks from the first practice and where it's good, but I think I’ll expect to probably still work at it and try to keep trying.

"Try to keep trying, that’s it, I won’t go down without a fight but of course I don’t wish to be fighting for 13th. I'll try to get back in the points soon."

Even the greats have their lean periods... perhaps its time for Brown, the 'experts' and 'clickbaiters' to cut the guy some slack.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 04/06/2022 14:50

"More grist to the DTS mill...."

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2. Posted by ffracer, 03/06/2022 22:17

"This is every driver's nightmare: Big promises (assumptions), great intentions all around... and it's totally different (feeling) and he is trying everything, brakes alone are totally different from what he's used to (Red Bull can really build anything spectacular and from ashes).

In truth, Dany Ric got a big win at Monza, no less (and it is one more than Lando lol).... but it doesn't matter. It was a while ago and it has been flanked by poor results. The media vultures, big investors and spin doctors taste more blood in the water (Brown's comment) and are circling at greater speed. Formula One... where fortune and luck (for a great chassis/pkge that a driver can do miracles with) is as important as talent and budget. Zak Brown is a racer's racer and I can't help but feel that his comment reeks of investor frustration. At the end of the day, F1 has never been fair and this is the ugly side of it. Dany Ric proves that not every driver and team is a good fit, as absolutely gutwrenchingly frustrating as it is... just ask Ivan Capelli, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel about the ultimate driver assasins, their former employer Ferrari. "

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3. Posted by kenji, 01/06/2022 23:57

"@ elsiebc.....Ask yourself why that would be? Ricciardo's late braking exploits are legendary so why would he decide not to pursue those race winning moves at this point in time? My guess would be that he has no confidence in the brakes coupled with car sensitivity when undertaking those moves. Seidl has also identified those characteristics and it working with Ricciardo to improve his performance. Consider this...he joins McLaren and finds the car he's given reacts differently to his natural style. He spends a complete year adapting then the new car arrives with different characteristics again meaning another change of driving style. Norris has had to only change once and that leaves him with a distinct advantage plus Ricciardo has had to cope with car problems and Covid19. Looking at the totality of it all it adds up to being very difficult for him. Maybe the media vultures are correct and Ricciardo is over the hill.... but that's their opinion based upon the current status quo which is fair enough but until the summer break occurs I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt."

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4. Posted by elsiebc, 01/06/2022 14:30

"I like, Ricciardo. Who doesn't. But when did you last see a late braking attempt from this "last of the late brakers"? I think he's been trundling around marking time for too long and has lost his edge. Lando is young and hungry."

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5. Posted by alvarezh3, 01/06/2022 13:20

"@ Kenji:

"My guess is that Brown's outburst is for the shareholders who want to see better results as Brown himself will be seriously questioned!"

Good point, I would not doubt Brown covering his back one bit. I see no reason to go public about one of your drivers in such an impolite way. Doubtful such a declaration would cause a driver to perform better (as if he wasn't already trying)."

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6. Posted by kenji, 01/06/2022 12:32

"There were many times when I thought that Zak Brown was a genuine supporter but his latest outburst, while skirting the truth, will have some blowback. The very last thing you do, in public, is heap more pressure on a driver of Ricciardo's stature. If he thinks it will push Ricciardo to better levels then IMO, he doesn't understand Ricciardo at all. My guess is that Brown's outburst is for the shareholders who want to see better results as Brown himself will be seriously questioned!

Andreas Seidl knows which way is up and it's great to see how he is supporting Daniel during these tough times. The Barcelona debacle was down to the car and Ricciardo was absolved, or so it seems. At least Seidl has owned it. Likewise Ricciardo's crash in Monaco. What the eventual outcome of all this is to be is yet to be written but I'd hazard a guess and say that Daniel won't be at McLaren next year....unfortunately, as I'd love to see him flourish once again before he calls time.

"

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7. Posted by GordonG47, 01/06/2022 11:36

"As has been said, these drivers don't just 'forget' how to drive (Mazepin was an outlier) and all the external pressure that gets heaped on them doesn't help.

Daniel (and Seb) just needs to be insulated from all the rubbish, relax and do his own thing. Fernando is going so well because he really has nothing to prove - he looks relaxed and just does what needs doing.

Daniel and Seb should probably go spend a weekend with Kimi, they'll learn how to not give a stuff about anyone else and just drive :)"

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"Deep down, I'm disappointed," admits Ricciardo

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