McLaren warn Ricciardo: He's not meeting our expectations

McLaren CEO Zak Brown says Lando Norris currently has the edge over struggling teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite scoring McLaren's first win in over eight years at last year's Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was generally overshadowed by Norris in 2021, and currently has just 11 points to his teammate's 38 so far in 2022.

The Australian finished a disappointing 12th in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, and seemed unable to get the best out of his car as he tried several different tyre strategies.

By contrast, Norris finished eighth despite suffering with tonsilitis, and Brown acknowledged that Ricciardo was not comparing well to his teammate.

"Lando definitely has an edge," Brown told Sky Sports.

"We obviously would like to see Daniel much closer to Lando and have a good inter-team battle.

"Daniel is just not comfortable yet with the car. We are trying everything we can; again it was a disappointing weekend."

Riccardo falling short of expectations

Brown added that, since joining McLaren from Renault in 2021, Ricciardo had not achieved what he or the team had expected.

"Short of Monza and a few races, [the partnership] has not met his or our expectations of what we were expecting," said Brown.

"I think all you can do is keep working hard as a team, keep communications going, keep pushing and hope that whatever is not clicking at the moment, clicks shortly."

Brown calls Norris "one of the best in the world"

Brown acknowledged that Ricciardo's struggles stood in contrast to the achievements and ability of Norris, who recently extended his contract with the Woking-based squad until at least 2025.

"I think it also points to how good Lando is," he said.

"When you look at the [points difference] between Charles [Leclerc] and Carlos [Sainz at Ferrari], between Max [Verstappen] and Sergio [Perez at Red Bull], there are gaps between teammates.

"I think Lando is one of the best drivers in the world at the moment, and I think it is also kind of a compliment to how good Lando is when you see the gap that exists."