David Coulthard has said Lando Norris could be in for a “tough time” against his new McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
The Scot knows how it feels to come off second-best against teammate McLaren as he was on the other side of the garage from Mika Hakkinen when the Finn won the World Cup back. in 1998-99.
After Hakkinen left the team in late 2001, younger Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, joined Coulthard for the next three seasons. He had Raikkonen’s measure in the first of those years before the future World Cup knocked out DC in the following two.
But Coulthard isn’t sure whether Norris’ grace that year will be against a competitor as experienced as Ricciardo, a 31-year-old seven-prix winner for the Red Bull.
The 49-year-old, who also drove for Williams and Red Bull, believes the young Englishman will have a harder time than when he was with Carlos Sainz, with whom he matched well in terms of both competitiveness and their friendly working relationship.
Clicking all the correct boxes pic.twitter.com/5rtAKNUTLm
– Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) March 14, 2021
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“This is a very good test for Lando,” Coulthard told The Sun. “In Carlos he had a quick teammate but also one who was very approachable and your teammates know your teammate.
“With Daniel, it’s easy to get off the beaten track but it’s very rough on the track and there’s the heart and the edge of that race, which we saw coming out when he was with Max. [Verstappen] and Seb [Vettel].
“It will be a difficult time for Lando. But it’s also a great opportunity for him to step in and show that he can pull his elbows out. “
Contemporary British driver George Russell has already said that Norris will do better than many people expect when he goes face-to-face in the same machine as the famous Australian. for being one of F1’s strongest competitors.
“I think Lando will surprise a few people,” said driver Williams.
“He is now in his third season of Formula 1 and his third season with McLaren. He knows the crew, he knows the car interior and all the engineers.
“It will be difficult for Daniel to join a new team and go up against someone like Lando who is very fast and has experience within that team … so I think that [Norris] it will surprise a few people this year. ”
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