Daniel Ricciardo admits he's still not comfortable finding the limit of his McLaren, having been outraced by his teammate in the opening two grands prix of the season.
The Australian has finished seventh and sixth in the two races so far, with Lando Norris fourth and third. At the most recent race at Imola, Ricciardo was asked by the team to move aside to allow the faster Norris past.
The highly rated 21-year-old Englishman is in his third season with the team, while Ricciardo only joined McLaren this year after a stint with Renault.
It's meant a period of adjustment for Ricciardo, who has had to adapt his driving style to the McLaren.
"The biggest thing is the seat of your pants, how the car moves underneath you, and your feel and perception of 'OK, I'm on the limit' or 'No, there's still a bit more,'" he told Trevor Long from EFTM.com.
"That's really it, and it's like practising a new sport, eventually muscle memory tells you how to hit the ball correctly, and that's like finding the limit of a new car.
"I need to do it a few more times to get that muscle memory to tell me that I'm comfortable here on the limit."
Each team had just three days of pre-season testing to split between their drivers, meaning Ricciardo had just a day and a half to get up to speed with his new car.
McLaren and Ferrari are the only two teams on the grid to have had both cars score points in both races this season, in what is shaping up as a fiercely competitive midfield battle behind Mercedes and Red Bull.
It's why the team needs Ricciardo to unlock the full potential of the car, but the Australian is warning that it's not likely to be at the Portuguese Grand Prix, noting that he'll be happy to simply take a step forward this weekend.
"Honestly, this sounds really conservative, I don't mean it in this way, but [the goal is] progress," he said.
"Regardless of my position, I want to leave Portugal with more of a spring in my step.
"I left Imola a bit flat, I still knew there was a lot of work to do, so I want to leave Portugal feeling like I've ticked a few more boxes."
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/f1-2021-daniel-ricciardo-not-on-the-limit-with-mclaren-yet-portugal-imola/ae23f558-e10d-4521-82ed-64e9732fcc43
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