Daniel Ricciardo hopes he’s “down the list” in terms of security target after outqualifying home-favorite Sergio Perez

Daniel Ricciardo is not too worried about security issues after outqualifying local hero Sergio Perez ahead of the 2023 Mexican GP. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda, the Australian looked forward to achieving the highest possible result from fourth place on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

While the security of Perez’ rivals including teammate Max Verstappen has remained a concern over the Mexican GP weekend, the circuit authorities were prompted to double the security and launch a campaign called ‘Racepect’. The campaign is a message to the fans to respect racing rivalries on the grid. Targeting his old seat in Red Bull for the 2025 season, the Australian has managed to outperform its current occupant for most of the sessions on his home ground.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he was worried about the security concerns after outperforming Perez, Daniel Ricciardo laughed saying:

“I think it's Ok, i think it's Ok. So far I’ve had very good experiences here. I would like to say that the crowds here and my personality are pretty similar. Everyone just likes to have a good time so I’d like to think I am somewhere down the bottom of the list.”

On what it felt like to outperform the local F1 star, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“I mean look it's cool. I got asked like ‘Oh you’re ahead of Checo tomorrow, how does that feel?’. I mean it feels cool but I’m ahead of lot of people. It’s just cool to be that far up the grid again, its been a while. I mean I’m gonna guess it’s probably Monza or something last time in 2021, somewhere in 2021 that I was second row on the grid.

"Yeah I mean it’s cool. There is part of me which for the next hour wants to celebrate today, because it’s certainly a day that should be celebrated. I think the team as well, it's not often they qualify this far up the grid, especially this year.

"But I don't think the car we have this weekend is a P10-in-the-constructors car. It’s definitely been a more competitive car and I’m just glad that I got the most out of it. Next hour I’ll enjoy but then definitely focus on tomorrow, try and turn this into a big bag of points."

Having outperformed the local hero Perez, Daniel Ricciardo faced a flurry of media questions on what it felt like to be beating the driver in his former Red Bull seat. The Australian asserted that he had not just beaten the Mexican but also many others.

Qualifying to the front row after the Belgian GP in 2021, the AlphaTauri driver felt this performance was long in the coming. Elated with the result and hoping to celebrate, he felt the result was one that his team needed after several unfortunate weekends.

Although AlphaTauri are in tenth place in the constructors championship, Daniel Ricciardo believes that the AT04 has more potential than a tenth-place car. Happy to maximize the untapped potential of his car, the Perth-born driver is looking forward to being able to translate the qualifying result into a solid performance in the race.

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Daniel Ricciardo targeting a top-five finish in the Mexican GP

Starting from P4 on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo believes he has a car that is quick enough to finish in the top five of the Mexican GP. He had explained to media including Sportskeeda about the improved cornering entry and setup changes made to the car that have suited him.

The Australian felt that the AT04 was a car he could tune more to his liking and made him feel like his old self again. The former Red Bull driver felt a top-five finish was worth targeting with the raw pace in his car over the weekend.

Asked if he had a car worthy of retaining P4 in the main race, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Part of me says why not because as I said today was genuine pace and all weekend, I felt we’ve been. I felt like if we put the lap together, we were always like a top six car.

"So by default you kind of expect the top teams to have a little more race pace and whatever it is with tyre management, but part of me also says ‘Why not? Why can’t we fight at the front tomorrow?’.”

Looking forward to the race ahead, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Yeah definitely. I think really the lap, it’s like get your elbows out but no, nothing too crazy, let's say. But it's one of those ones, you have be to conservative and you're fourth and then in turn 1 you're ninth. You can get eaten up pretty quick here, so I think being towards the front, you normally stay a bit more out of the chaos.

"The mid-pack gets a little crazy, so that should help our cause of getting a bit through the first few corners cleaner. But yeah you still have to race pretty hard to not get eaten up. I’m experienced hopefully I’ll use my head tomorrow, I should be good.”

Known to electrify a team atmosphere with the right mind frame and confidence, Daniel Ricciardo is hungry to score his first points in F1 and get back to his old competitive ways. While he has definitely found more comfort in the AlphaTauri compared to the McLaren, the moral boost from the qualifying result would make him deliver with more confidence in the race.

A top-five finish could also promote the Faenza-based squad from last in the constructor’s standings to further. Their team boss had great confidence in the Australian making a comeback in the upcoming races and is certain they could turn around their 2023 performance.