Ricciardo: My race fitness isn’t what all of the other drivers’ is

Last weekend's Formula 1 race at Spa-Francorchamps marked Ricciardo's second race in top flight since he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri, and while he bettered teammate Yuki Tsunoda in their first race together in Hungary, it was the other way around in Belgium as the Japanese driver scored a point for the team finishing tenth, the Australian failing to do so finishing 16th.

The race at Spa being the sport's last before the summer break, Ricciardo was asked for his plans for the vacation, he responded: "I want to use this time to… I say catch up in terms of a physical standpoint.

"Obviously my race fitness isn’t what all of the other drivers’ is. But probably one of the things I felt happier about was how I felt after the race," he admitted. "I actually felt a lot better than I thought I was going to feel."

"When shutdown is on, I’m just going to use that to train," he added. "Of course, try and enjoy a little bit of a holiday, but I’ve had a holiday for six months. Zandvoort is very physical as well, it’s very hard on the neck that one, it’s fast.

"So just make sure I’m doing that. I think if I’m physically in shape and mentally and everything, it feels easier coming into the race weekend. There are less questions to be answered," the Honey Badger maintained.

Speaking in AlphaTauri's post Belgium press release, Ricciardo said of his race: "Honestly, it was tough in traffic. Maybe a race with more clear air could’ve been better, but in general I’m not convinced we had great pace today.

"It felt like we never got the peak out of the tyres, and we couldn’t generate enough grip in the second sector," he pointed out. "When we were in clear air later in the race, I felt we were more competitive, but in traffic, it was definitely hard.

"The reality is, these were my first dry laps in this car on this track, and I don’t know this car that well yet, so I still felt there was a little missing, but we’ll figure it out," he concluded.

Ricciardo has returned to an active F1 driving role after spending the first part of the 2023 season as a reserve driver for Red Bull, and was given the opportunity as De Vries failed to deliver the level of performance expected of him.

He has since insisted that his ultimate goal is to land a drive with Red Bull.