Daniel Ricciardo admits he is performing below expectations with McLaren

Ricciardo has only one top ten finish so far this season

(Getty Images)

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that his early performances in the 2022 Formula 1 season have been short of his own expectations.

The McLaren driver has recorded just a single finish in top ten in the opening six races, finishing sixth at his home Australian Grand Prix but otherwise failing to score.

Zak Brown, team principal at McLaren, this week suggested to Sky Sports that Ricciardo’s early-season form had been below where both team and driver had expected the Australian to be.

Ricciardo, who has been out-performed by teammate Lando Norris, has conceded that he and McLaren must improve, but he still has confidence that he can compete for race victories.

“Well it’s not false,” Ricciardo said of Brown’s comment about his performances ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. “It’s pretty true.

“Comments I don’t take personal. My skin is tanned, beautiful and also thick.

“And I know that I don’t want to be racing around 10th, 12th places you know, I still believe I can be at the front and belong at the front.

“So it’s been a little bit more certainly testing at times in terms of obviously trying to get up and maximise myself in this car.

“But yeah, we’re working together hard at it. And the team wants it. I want it. So yeah, we’re just working through it.”

Ricciardo took victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix last September, his eighth win as a Formula 1 driver.

The 32-year-old twice finished third in the overall standings while at Red Bull and was eighth, two places below Norris, last year.