Ricciardo: Combining Renault/McLaren would give "pretty decent" car
Daniel Ricciardo thinks merging the best bits of the Renault and McLaren designs would result in a "pretty decent" Formula 1 car
Renault's strength in low-speed corners, and McLaren's weakness in this area, has helped the French outfit return to the head of the midfield order at the British Grand Prix.
Ricciardo said taking the best elements of both designs and combining cars would go some way to reducing the gap to the top three teams.
"I think actually if we can take some of their high-speed [performance], and they take some of our low speed, then I think you are looking at a pretty decent race car," said Ricciardo, when asked about the differences between the two Renault-powered teams.
"We are decent in the slower stuff. It is exciting looking at Budapest, but we have to try to figure out the high speed stuff.
"I just looked at some overlays and we are not that quick in Maggotts and Becketts, which may be bits in the [level of] downforce we are running. But typically we are not that strong in those corners."
McLaren has known since the start of the season that it is lacking in slow-speed corners, but it has yet to get on top of that issue.
Speaking at Silverstone, Lando Norris said: "We knew before this weekend where we were strong, where we were weak, and we weren't overly confident coming into the weekend that we'd be amazing or anything like that - especially in qualifying.
"Sector one was our worst sector, and those corners [in Silverstone's loop section] are both very slow speed.
"We already knew, we'd confirmed it previously what's good and what's bad. This weekend was the same again. It's just confirming and we still need to push in that area."
However, team boss Andreas Seidl said he was not too alarmed about that deficit because it was one of a number of areas in which McLaren must improve.
"I wouldn't say it is something I am concerned about," he said.
"It is a topic that we have to address in addition to many other topics we are having with the car or inside the team.
"The important thing is we keep learning about the current car. It is important to get the clear feedback from both drivers, which is there.
"We try to address the issues, and we keep bringing updates for the next races to address the weaknesses we have with the car.
"This is the battle we are in. It is nothing that worries me. It is the nature of the game we are in."
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