AlphaTauri 'Had No Right To Be On Second Row Of The Grid' Says Ricciardo After P4 In Mexico

Sunday, 24 December 2023 at 23:00

Daniel Ricciardo said he felt everything he needed to feel after his stunning performance during the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend.

The Alphatauri driver Daniel Ricciardo took five races off shortly after getting a seat in the team due to suffering an injury during the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Honey Badger shared this was a tough period for him, but when he came back, he managed to shine already the second race after his comeback at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The 34-year-old put his AlphaTauri on the second row for the start of the race and outperformed drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez on supposedly faster cars during the Qualification. He told the media:

"A weekend like Mexico, that's a weekend where I felt everything I needed to feel again. Obviously, the team was very happy, everyone was happy, and those things help kind of everything moving forward."

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AlphaTauri F1 team was dead last in the Championship for some part of the season, but the team managed to gain two positions towards the end of the season because of effective upgrades and outstanding performances like Ricciardo's in Mexico City.

"To put the car in a position where people don't expect to see that car, that's stuff that excites you, and the fourth [in Mexico] felt like a pole, because it felt like the AlphaTauri this year had no [right] to be on the second row of the grid."

The AlphaTauri driver revealed he wasn't sure whether he would get the chance to sit in Formula One again after the end of the 2022 season.

But now that he got this chance, the Honey Badger needed strong performances to regain his confidence, and it seems that is precisely what happened in Mexico.

"It just didn't ever look like that, so that sort of stuff gets me excited, and definitely gets the butterflies going inside me. And if that can happen, it could obviously open up doors later on to fight for wins again."