McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo hits back at his detractors: 'I've not forgotten how to drive'

McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has reminded critics that he has "not forgotten how to drive" as speculation mounts over his future and whether he will be in the team much longer after a terrible start to 2022.

So far, in 2022's first seven races, Ricciardo has only picked up points at his home Grand Prix in Australia, where he finished sixth. In contrast, teammate Lando Norris has comprehensively outperformed Ricciardo and is seventh in the drivers' standings on 48 points compared to Ricciardo's 11 points.

Ricciardo's struggles have been getting many comments from critics over his future, with rumours enhanced following recent remarks from McLaren boss Zak Brown.

Hitting back at detractors

Brown admitted that despite winning in Italy last year, Ricciardo was not living up to expectations since joining from Renault at the end of 2020, saying: "Short of Monza and a few races, it's generally not kind of met his or our expectations, as far as what we were expecting."

Ricciardo, though, has hit back at his detractors, telling crash.net: "The reality is I've not forgotten how to drive in six months, I haven't lost my competitive edge, it's just kind of a moment in time that I knew I could come out of.

"You are always going to get people saying this and that. It is what it is. It's up to me in the car to prove them wrong. But no one's going to get into me more than myself as well, so someone telling me that I need to pull my finger out is not going to change me because if they are telling me to pull my finger out, then I'm telling myself much more."

The 32-year-old Ricciardo said he was used to criticism, saying: "Already in April and May [last year], there were articles like 'he's lost it', but six months earlier in 2020, I was