Daniel Ricciardo has explained that he took "a lot of fulfilment" from his recent victory at the Italian Grand Prix, following a difficult first half of the season. Ricciardo made the switch from Renault to McLaren for 2021 and struggled to adapt to his new car, with teammate Lando Norris comfortably leading their qualifying (8-3) and race (9-2) head-to-heads at the summer break. However, a stronger start to the second half of the campaign culminated in a breakthrough win at Monza, Ricciardo's first triumph since 2018 (with Red Bull in Monaco) and McLaren's first in nine years (Brazil in 2012). With the dust settled, Ricciardo has described just how much the victory meant to him. "It felt amazing," said Ricciardo in an interview with Australian digital lifestyle publication Man of Many. "I think to win in general, it's obviously a big part of why we do it, but it had been so long for me, it had been so long for the team. "And it was a new experience for me to win with another team. I've only ever won with one team before, so there was quite a bit of emotion involved. "There was a lot of fulfilment taken from that." Norris backed up Ricciardo for a McLaren 1-2 in Italy, while the team were also on course for victory at the Russian GP until late rain . While encouraged by the progress McLaren are making, Ricciardo is keeping his feet on the ground. "It certainly is a big step, but it doesn't guarantee anything moving forward," added Ricciardo. "It doesn't guarantee more wins or anything, but it should guarantee less of the bad days. "With the team around me, like my mechanics, my engineers, for them to stay confident and keep the faith, [I] think that was important for all of us as a unit." McLaren hold third in the standings, 17.5 points clear of Ferrari, with seven races remaining in 2021.
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