Ricciardo enjoys ‘smooth’ McLaren F1 Silverstone shakedown
Daniel Ricciardo felt his maiden Formula 1 outing with McLaren went “really smooth” after sampling the MCL35M car for the first time at Silverstone on Tuesday.
Following his winter switch from Renault, seven-time grand prix winner Ricciardo helped unveil McLaren’s new F1 car for the 2021 season on Monday at its factory in Woking.
McLaren opted to give the MCL35M a maiden run-out at Silverstone on Tuesday, using its filming day allocation for a shakedown to ensure all systems were running as expected.
After seeing team-mate Lando Norris complete a run in the morning, Ricciardo turned his first laps in a McLaren F1 car in the afternoon on a greasy and damp Silverstone track.
Although the test was limited to just 17 laps due to the filming day restrictions, Ricciardo was glad for the opportunity to get back up to speed after the winter.
“It feels longer than two months actually!” Ricciardo said.
“It always takes a little bit to get the confidence up. I think as well in these conditions, it’s greasy, they don’t fill you with a lot of confidence after it being a while since being in a car.
“But no, it’s nice. Everything’s run really smooth, we completed what we had to. Really, that’s all you can ask for. I know the more laps I turn, the more confidence and comfortable I’ll feel with this team.”
Read Also:
The initial shakedown in the MCL35M was all the more important for Ricciardo given the limited amount of pre-season testing in 2021, which has been cut to just three days ahead of the new season.
Ricciardo is set to get one-and-a-half days behind the wheel in Bahrain next month, but is confident the team can get everything ready for the opening race of the season.
“Every little bit helps, getting up to speed with the team, going through all the procedures,” Ricciardo said.
“Really the plan is and the target is to get to Bahrain, Sunday afternoon, be on the grid and for there to be no inch of panic. It’s really just about feeling comfortable and familiar with all the crew.
“We’re going through that, trying to go through scenarios that we would face on a race weekend, and yes, we don’t have the atmosphere around us now, but we can certainly try to replicate it and put a little bit of pressure on ourselves.
“McLaren started on the right foot with the fire-up, that was a day early, and first day of running on-track, everything has been smooth.
“You can’t ask for too much more in this part of the season. So everything is firing on the right cylinders now, and we’re all good.”

Previous article
Why Red Bull's Honda takeover is a gamechanger for its F1 mindset
Next article
Norris already learning from Ricciardo in McLaren F1 simulator

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Event | McLaren Film day |
Drivers | Daniel Ricciardo |
Teams | McLaren |
Author | Luke Smith |
Ricciardo enjoys ‘smooth’ McLaren F1 Silverstone shakedown
Trending
Is Red Bull Hiding the Real RB16B? | F1 2021
Sergio Perez's First Drive With Red Bull Racing
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror
How AlphaTauri has adapted to F1's new rules
AlphaTauri launched its AT02, complete with a new livery, as it bids to home in on an already-tight midfield battle. Although there were few outright new parts displayed on the launch render, there might be a few clues into further changes down the line…