Eight points, plenty of lessons for Daniel at Imola

Daniel snares sixth at Imola on a day where an old-school wet circuit fast-tracked his familiarity with the 2021 McLaren

Making progress step by step, one foot in front of the other. That was the takeaway for Daniel after the Gran Premio Del Made In Italy Dell'emilia Romagna 2021 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (let's just call it Imola, OK?) last weekend, when he came home in sixth place after a race interrupted by a red flag. 

Daniel had only ever driven at Imola once before – and finished third when the track came back onto the pandemic-adjusted calendar late last year – but Sunday's race couldn't have been more different than last November's, a torrent of rain right before the start almost ensuring a chaotic 63-lap journey, one that Daniel feels had benefits far beyond the eight world championship points he scored.

"Even though those conditions seem even trickier when you're not, say, 100 per cent up to speed with the car, it's still good to have it thrown at you to fast-track your progress," he says. 

"It's like being thrown in the deep end in a way, so to get the whole race distance in, it sounds kinda simple but it all helps. That's the best thing for me at the moment as I get more used to this team and this car."

Daniel qualified sixth, just four-tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton on a tight grid, and jumped AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly for fifth at the start as the field battled with the spray from the soaked track. He spent the opening 16 laps in fifth before adhering to a team order to allow McLaren teammate Lando Norris past, and then pitted to discard his intermediate tyres for medium slicks on lap 27 with the racing line now bone-dry, re-joining in eighth place.

"You never want to be on that side of a team order but in saying that, if you're on the other side, you've either been outqualified by your teammate or he's passed you in the race and you have to get by again," Daniel says.

"I'd been given enough laps (by the team) and I felt like it was going to come at some point if I didn't pull away from Lando, so that was fair enough. That's not something I want, but that's in my control and I wasn't quick enough. I'll take that one on the chin and not fight it – that's all on me."

A one-stop strategy until the end was Daniel's plan until a massive accident involving Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and George Russell (Williams) brought out the red flag on lap 33, the entire field returning to the pits for the debris to be cleaned up. After a 25-minute delay, Daniel restarted the race on soft tyres in sixth, advanced to fifth past Red Bull's Sergio Perez, and then was demoted by the recovering Hamilton after the Mercedes driver had run off track just before the red flag period.

Daniel claimed sixth place and eight world championship points, the result leaving him in seventh overall with 14 points after two rounds, and he felt there were some gains made in his second race in McLaren papaya.

"Imola isn’t a massive braking circuit, but I was a bit more competitive in the chicane and the areas that had a bit bigger braking, and the high-speed is actually where I was more off," he explains.

"When I got to Renault, braking was where I struggled the most so that's probably not so much the case here. The biggest improvements I need to make is knowing this car's aero profile, and knowing how hard I can really lean on it. It does have quite a bit of potential in the high speed … so knowing those limits is where I've got to improve." 

The Portuguese Grand Prix and a date with the Algarve International Circuit is next on May 2, F1 returning to another circuit that wasn't on last year's original calendar to tackle a challenging undulating layout over 66 laps. But while Portimao is next on the agenda, Daniel's thoughts were further afield with the news that Miami is set to join the Grand Prix schedule from 2022, with the sport securing a 10-year deal to race on a street circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

Daniel has actually been to the track that doesn't yet exist – inadvertently anyway … "I'm really excited for Miami, certainly happy to go," Daniel says.

"Spending some more time in the 'States, I love it. I was actually at that stadium for the Super Bowl in 2020 so I'm familiar with the area, and I think it's great for us to have a new one, and great for F1 too. I've been to Miami a couple of times but only for a few days each time, so I'm definitely excited to spend some more time there."