Daniel Ricciardo says his run to seventh place at Formula 1’s Mexico City Grand Prix was a rare occasion that he didn’t feel like a “passenger” in his McLaren.
Ricciardo surged through the field on soft tyres in his final stint, finishing best of the rest behind the top three teams despite holding a 10-second time penalty for an earlier collision with Yuki Tsunoda.
It marked a stark contrast to the the previous week in Austin where Ricciardo was left deflated after finishing a lowly 16th, a familiar story during a difficult two-year period at McLaren that will end in two races time.
But his performance at the Autrodormo Hermanos Rodriguez was a rare recent example of Ricciardo rediscovering his pre-McLaren form, admitting he came away feeling he was less of a “passenger” than previous races.
“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve felt a little bit like a passenger in a way,” said Ricciardo, as quoted by The Race.
“I just feel I’ve worked with such little grip that no amount of talent is going to get the job done.
“That’s where I’ve felt a little bit helpless at times. You feel like you can’t really show anything that you’ve got, because you’re just not operating on the level of the others.
“So to be at least able to lean on it and push and have pace, be the guy that’s setting quick times, makes me happy. I wish it could have been like this more often, but I’ll take today and enjoy it.
“I’m happy we’ve got a week off so I can enjoy it for a week!”
Mexico was only the sixth race – baring Imola’s sprint – that Ricciardo has scored points in this season, in a year he has been consistently outperformed by team-mate Lando Norris.
But unlike his previous points finishes, Ricciardo noted Mexico was a one very few examples in his McLaren career of him being on the offensive instead of holding on to track position.
“The points finishes, even probably last year, I feel we were normally defending rather than attacking,” Ricciardo said.
“So just to have an attacking race – especially for me with this car to feel like I can attack a little bit more with it, it’s just a nice feeling.”
He added: “I’m going to take today for what it is – I’m going to enjoy it and appreciate that we did have pace, it was awesome and whatever.
“I hope that means it will be like that in the next two races! Not to be negative but I don’t even want to look ahead.
“I just want to take it for what it is and hopefully we’ve learned something from it.”
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