Formula 1 Mexico City GP
Horner: "Outstanding" Ricciardo looked his old self in F1 Mexico GP
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has praised an "outstanding" Daniel Ricciardo performance in Formula 1's Mexico Grand Prix as the Australian "looked like the Daniel of old".
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Oct 31, 2023, 8:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ricciardo managed to find a set-up breakthrough after his first regular grand prix weekend back from his five-race injury lay-off and put the AlphaTauri fourth on the grid for the Mexico City event.
He backed that up by running in the top five for the first half of the race, with an unfortunately timed red flag leading to him dropping back to seventh at the finish.
The AlphaTauri's competitiveness, which Yuki Tsunoda also displayed before clashing with McLaren's Oscar Piastri, warrants a word of caution as it is thought to be largely circuit-specific.
The Faenza squad could deploy its excellent mechanical grip at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez while being punished less for its draggy car.
Nevertheless, Ricciardo showed a first glimpse of the kind of form and confidence reminiscent of his Red Bull days, something which didn't go unnoticed by the team.
"It's great to see Daniel performing so well and it fully endorses the reason why we brought him back into AlphaTauri just prior to the summer break," said Red Bull team principal Horner.
"I thought he was outstanding this weekend fighting a Mercedes in an AlphaTauri. Had it not been for the red flag, he would have probably finished further up.
"A great performance from him and certainly, it looked like the Daniel of old."
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
Horner brushed off suggestions that Ricciardo was still limited by the type of F1 car he can excel in, saying his curtailed McLaren stint was a mental battle more than anything else.
"That's a bit of a fallacy to say," he said. "I think that this sport is as much in the head as it is anywhere else and I think he's back to his old self.
"You can see he's relaxed, he's confident and he came into the weekend fully motivated after a tricky Austin.
"Look at the delta to Max [Verstappen] as well. It was less than a tenth to Max. A remarkable performance by him."
Ricciardo's breakthrough result for AlphaTauri came in a race where Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who occupies the seat Ricciardo is chasing, took himself out in an ambitious three-wide overtake in the first corner.
But Horner, who publicly defended Perez's actions, batted away any connection between the two very contrasting race outcomes, even if his commitment to Perez was phrased less watertight than earlier comments he made about the Mexican's future.
"Checo has an agreement with us for next year and that's our intention, for him to be in the car in 2024," Horner carefully stated.
"We'll give him all the support we can to ensure that he finishes second [in the drivers' standings] but there's no prerequisite that if he doesn't finish second, you're out."
Read Also:
Formula 1Ricciardo: F1 Mexico GP was "the weekend I dreamed of"
Formula 1Overheating brakes triggered heavy Magnussen crash in F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1Horner "can't blame" Perez for F1 Mexico Turn 1 move
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vasseur: Hard tyre stint ruined Leclerc’s Mexico F1 race
Next article Why Russell's F1 Mexico GP charge fell apart
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Winners and losers from F1's record-breaking Mexico Grand Prix
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Winners and losers from F1's record-breaking Mexico Grand Prix
Emotional Kimi Antonelli left "speechless" by maiden F1 world title in Mexico
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Emotional Kimi Antonelli left "speechless" by maiden F1 world title in Mexico
More from
Daniel Ricciardo
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
More from
Red Bull Racing
How Red Bull's crucial strategy call helped Max Verstappen win the "Maxico Grand Prix"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
4 h
How Red Bull's crucial strategy call helped Max Verstappen win the "Maxico Grand Prix"
Isack Hadjar blames himself for George Russell clash that “ruined” his Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
5 h
Isack Hadjar blames himself for George Russell clash that “ruined” his Mexico GP
Latest news
Jacob Abel ‘reevaluating everything’ after solid IMSA endurance campaign, targets 2027 Indy 500 return
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 20 min
Jacob Abel ‘reevaluating everything’ after solid IMSA endurance campaign, targets 2027 Indy 500 return
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
WRC
WRC WRC 30 min
Why Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak are returning to the WRC
Marco Bezzecchi not throwing in the towel on MotoGP title fight
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
Marco Bezzecchi not throwing in the towel on MotoGP title fight
Marco Antonelli: "I saw the champion in Kimi after his Australia crash"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Marco Antonelli: "I saw the champion in Kimi after his Australia crash"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe