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Ricciardo: Satisfied enough I would say

Jad Mallak

Ricciardo: Satisfied enough I would say

Daniel Ricciardo revealed he was satisfied with his result at his home 2022 Australian Grand Prix, his sixth place in Melbourne a clear improvement for McLaren after the two season-opening races.

After his tough debut Formula 1 season with McLaren in 2021, Ricciardo’s second season with the Woking squad wasn’t any better as the MCL36 did not live up to the promise it showed in testing in Barcelona, with the team toiling around down the order for the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

That would have surely weighed in on Ricciardo as he went into his home race this weekend, but the pleasant surprise came as soon as practice, as McLaren seemed to be in a better place, translating into a Q3 appearance for both cars, with the Aussie going on to score his first points of the season courtesy of his sixth place.

“I am satisfied enough I would say,” Ricciardo told the media after the race.”It is by far our best result of the season, personally and a team result.

“First part of the race I thought we were there with Mercedes and holding their DRS but then as the race progressed that was probably our pace,” he added.

The Honey Badger was breathing down the neck of his teammate by the end of the race, and finished less than half a second behind him as the chequered flag was waved.

Fifth and Sixth a fantastic result

“I think it was a bit of a photo finish,” Ricciardo pointed out. “I was told Lando was having some issues so the team said be sensible so I had to control myself a little bit but of course a 5th and a 6th is a fantastic result.

“If you had said this in Bahrain I would have laughed sarcastically,” the 32-year-old admitted.

Ricciardo later said in McLaren’s post race press release: “”It has been a better weekend which is positive for the team. I’m happy with the progress and, as a team result, I think we executed everything we could.

“I think the first part of the race was positive but there is still a bit to work on. Probably in that second stint I lost a little bit of pace on the Hard tyre. It came back to me a little bit – but we still have a bit of understanding to do.

“I’ll keep working at it but generally, as a whole, the weekend’s been smooth. I’m happy to walk away with my first points of the year at home, which is also nice for the all the fans who came out here, so I’m feeling pretty content.

“We leave Melbourne in good spirits, which feels nice as it’s probably been four years since I left here in good spirits,” Ricciardo concluded.

A special weekend for McLaren having an Australian driver in one of their cars, as team boss Andreas Seidl said: “Melbourne was, as always, a great place to come racing.

“Having Daniel on board meant we had an even bigger crowd cheering us on this weekend and it was a real pleasure to give them something to celebrate. The support we’ve felt from the fans has been incredible. Thank you Australia,” he concluded.