Daniel Ricciardo has clarified that his critical remarks during F1's launch of its 2022 car weren't directed at the new design. The Australian was caught on an open mic saying: "Yeah, no it's terrible. It's sh*t, it's worse." Many took Ricciardo's comments as being critical of the new car though there were no images to know for sure what he was referring to. Nevertheless, he cleared the air and stated he actually likes the look of the design. "I was probably talking about something else because to be honest we were talking about quite a few things,” the Australian told RacingNews365.com and other members of the media. "To be honest I don't recall saying anything like that because I actually thought it was pretty cool. I wouldn’t have been that aggressive to it, maybe it was the paint scheme, but I wouldn’t have said that about it [the car]. "I will clarify that I definitely didn’t think it was sh*t. I was actually quite okay with it and I think I mentioned something about liking the rear. Anyway there is no negativity around the new car here.” Ricciardo struggled during qualifying last time out in Austria, starting 13th on the grid after failing to make it out of Q2. The Australian knows things won't change overnight, however he will continue to work hard to try and improve his fortunes. "Just keep working at it," Ricciardo added. "It's something which I've now acknowledged that it's probably not going to come overnight or with a click of a finger. "It's just trying to understand it. For sure in in the moment, straight after qualifying or straight off the race, you're emotional, you can be frustrated. "You always just want more and I think until you're winning or you're standing on the podium, you're always going to be left feeling a little bit like there's something on the table. I think once those moments pass then it's really just getting into the data, having conversations with the engineers, getting on the simulator and just simply putting the work in to try and let's say improve and fast track this phase."
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