Norris rubbishes speculations of potential rift with Ricciardo; ‘We get along really well’
After Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from McLaren F1 was confirmed, Lando Norris said that he had no sympathies for the struggles the Australian faced at the team.
Following the shocking news of Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from McLaren F1 at the end of the 2022 season, most of the spotlight has been on the Australian. After the 33-year-old’s departure from the team was confirmed, teammate Lando Norris said that he had no sympathies for Ricciardo’s struggles over the past few seasons.
As a result of the Belgian-British driver’s remarks, there have been speculations that there is a rift between the two McLaren teammates. With such rumours going around, Norris rubbished them during his latest press conference.
Norris rubbished reports of rift with Ricciardo
Speaking of his relationship with Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, Lando Norris said, “You know, I want to be friends with as many people as possible and similar to how I am now with Daniel, you know, we get on really well. For some reason, people think otherwise, but it’s completely untrue. We have a lot of fun together, we spend a lot of time together.”
Norris then went on to explain that the two of them are not often seen on each other’s social media accounts because of the different interests they have. “But just things are different — just because he’s a bit older and he’s into different things. He’s not into playing golf and so on. So, therefore, you don’t see it as much on social media and whatever. But I think our friendship is good and the respect we have for each other, and I’m pretty sure that will continue into the future.”
One driver that Norris shares a fantastic relationship with is Carlos Sainz. The two of them have often been seen pulling each other’s legs during press conferences and playing golf together when the two are not racing. After speaking of his relationship with Ricciardo, Norris also explained the kind of bond he shares with Sainz and hopes that it is not affected by their title rivalries.
“I mean we have a long future ahead of us. Hopefully, we have a lot of battles in the future so you never know how relationships change when you have battles, hopefully for wins and championships. We’re just good friends away from the track. I guess we have a lot of respect for each other,” explained Norris.
