Daniel Ricciardo showed up in good spirits and covered his Adam’s apple with a faux tattoo of his McLaren colleague Lando Norris’s face at the Italian Grand Prix.
In response, Norris donned a heart tattoo with the words “True Love” with a badger logo on his collar, alluding to Ricciardo’s moniker of “honey badger.”
The British driver also had a blurry photo of Ricciardo pulling a “shoey” and drinking champagne from the podium with his sweaty racing boot in his hand.
Ricciardo has fallen short of expectations at McLaren, but any tension has been kept under wraps ever since they announced they will part ways at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
“This is ridiculous. I have Lando’s face on my neck. We did a little thing this morning with the team and, oh gosh!” exclaimed the Australian.
“We just did some videos,” Norris added. “His Adam’s apple’s on my eye… It looks like he’s possessed a little bit.”
Ricciardo was in a good mood as he returned to the fast circuit where he and Norris unexpectedly finished one-two last year. That was Ricciardo’s first victory since he was a Red Bull driver in 2018, and it was the first victory for McLaren since 2012.
“It is cool… Obviously last year was so special, a big moment,” Ricciardo said. “It’s a year on. Those big moments and memories still seem set in the forefront of your mind and it feels very recent.”
“Monza’s a place I’ve always enjoyed. Results aside, it’s a fun track. Low downforce, high speed, best pizza in the world. All these things… Mum and dad are here this weekend, it’s their second race or maybe third I think since pre-Covid. It’s good to be back.”
