“Hopefully there won’t be too much sandbagging,” Daniel Ricciardo remains skeptical after a good show in Australian GP training sessions

During McLaren Discouraged by the Woking-based team’s miserable performances in the first two races of the 2022 F1 season, fans are hopeless. The McLaren racers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finished in the top 10 in both the first and second free practice sessions during the Australian GP weekend. In an interview after FP2, Ricciardo said he hoped McLaren’s rivals weren’t “sandbagging” around to appear less competitive.

The 2022 F1 season got off to a promising start for McLaren after a superb battle with Ferrari for third place in the Constructors’ Championship last year. But unfortunately, they faced some troubles that led to disturbing performances in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

After McLaren returned to Albert Park for the first time since 2019, McLaren caught up with their rivals and both drivers finished in the top 10, both outperforming Mercedes. While this gives some hope for their good performance in Sunday’s race, Daniel Ricciardo is still wary of the others on track.

“Hopefully there isn’t too much sandbagging with others,” he said. He worries his opponents are underperforming on purpose to appear less competitive than they actually are.

“I was pretty happy” – Daniel Ricciardo on the Australian FP2 session

After finishing tenth in the second free practice of the day in Melbourne, Ricciardo said: “Just the feeling in the car was good.

“I think we found a good set in the afternoon. Especially in the first part of the session on Medium I was pretty happy, but I don’t think we found as much as we can with the softs.

“So there will be more to come from this tire but other than that I felt like I was pushing the limit. I don’t think I have a second one in my pocket, but of course you’ll find a bit more as the weekend progresses.“

With his hopes for his team, McLaren should score a few points in the upcoming race on Sunday. The Australian driver has entered his own country’s Grand Prix after nearly two years due to the Covid-19 hiatus and is now more determined than ever to clinch a podium. Will he be able to please his fans with a brilliant performance at the Australian GP? That remains to be seen.

Continue reading: Australian GP: Charles Leclerc back on top in FP2 ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz