“He protected well in turn 4”: Daniel Ricciardo explains reasons why he could not get past George Russell towards the end of Mexico GP

Daniel Ricciardo praised George Russell’s defensive skills in the closing laps of the 2023 Mexican GP. The Australian believes the limited opportunities made it difficult for him to secure a top finish by beating the Mercedes.

Having had a steady resurgence throughout the Mexican race weekend, a top-five finish was on the cards for Daniel Ricciardo, if he hadn’t got caught out by the red flags. Like a majority of the drivers on the grid, the Australian’s tires took a while to get back into the optimum temperature window.

Although Ricciardo kept fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri at bay, he succumbed to former teammate Lando Norris. Russell was also overtaken by the McLaren driver, leaving him a sitting duck for the AlphaTauri to pluck.

Ultimately, Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh behind Russell. Asked by Sportskeeda if he was too conservative during the race and could have attacked Russell earlier, he explained:

“I was honestly trying as much as I could. It was a little weird at the start of the stint, I didn't feel as good as towards the end. I felt like it took me a little bit (longer) to get the rhythm with the tyre. And then the last probably ten laps, I was able to start really pushing harder.

"And I think Lando getting George probably hurt George’s tyres a little bit, so that brought him back to me and it was tough. I probably isn’t expect to get that close. But when you’re that close, we are like ‘Ahh we could have’ but he protected well in turn 4."

The 34-year-old added:

"At one point I was trying to go on the outside, but I could see we were both probably going to run off and had to abort mission. He did well, he did well to defend. So we tried but yeah I think ultimately just to be battling a Mercedes at the end, that makes me more happy than just missing out on sixth.”

Elated with his first points of the season, Daniel Ricciardo believes he tried his best during the closing laps of the race to pass the Mercedes. The margin came down to 0.029 seconds on the final lap where he tried a move on Russell, but the Briton defended well.

The Australian felt that racing Norris probably had damaged the 26-year-old’s tires which dropped him closer to the AlphaTauri. As the duo were battling for sixth place, Ricciardo felt that after one failed attempt to overtake Russell, a pass on the outside was too risky.

According to the Australian, battling a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri itself was commendable more than securing a sixth position. He started the race in fourth place on the grid after a stellar qualifying performance.

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Daniel Ricciardo felt a top-five finish was a possibility in Mexico without the red flag

Daniel Ricciardo believes that if it weren’t for the red flag during the Mexican GP race, a fifth-place finish was a possibility. After qualifying, the AlphaTauri driver spoke to media including Sportskeeda, where he stated that the AT04 was definitely not worthy of a tenth place in the constructors championship.

He felt the car had more potential and promised more competitive performances in the remaining races on the calendar. Expecting a lone race in fifth place, the inconsistent performance of his tires made it difficult to finish ahead of seventh place.

Asked where the top 5 finish slipped away from him, Daniel Ricciardo explained:

“Yeah I don't know if Lando’s pace in that second half of the race was as good as the first half, because he was very quick. But we were, let’s say holding Oscar at bay, we had gaps too, yeah like it felt like we were at least at that moment. I felt like this could be a nice lonely fifth place and I was okay with that.

"I definitely think we could’ve been better than seventh, let's say that without the red (flag). But I’ll say that’s racing, on one hand you can say unlucky but it can always be worse. At the restart we could have had a crash or something so to still come through, I’m happy.”

With a car that performs more to his liking, Daniel Ricciardo has regained his mojo to be competitive and hungrier for success. With his credit-worthy performance and points finish, AlphaTauri have moved up from tenth place to eighth place in the constructors’ championship.

While the former Red Bull driver has been instrumental in the late resurgence of the Faenza-based squad, his hand injury was a setback. Nevertheless, back to his old self, the Australian Grand Prix winner is in a better mind frame after collecting his first points of the season.