Daniel Ricciardo may be struggling at McLaren but he is also up against “tough competition” in Lando Norris, says CEO Zak Brown.

Swapping Renault for McLaren in the off season, many pundits predicted it would only be a matter of time before Ricciardo emerged as McLaren’s strongest driver.

Nine races into this season and that has yet to happen.

While the 32-year-old’s best results have been a hat-trick of sixth placed finishes, his team-mate Norris has already been on the podium three times.

It is clear that Ricciardo is losing the intra-team fight on Saturdays already, out-shone by his British team-mate in qualifying.