John N
Daniel Ricciardo may have blotted his copybook with a dramatic collision with Yuki Tsunoda midway through the Mexico City Grand Prix. But after battling his way to a P7 finish, the Australian was left with mixed feelings after one of his strongest performances of 2022.
Gaining ground on Tsunoda on Lap 51 of 71, Ricciardo tried to make a move for P11 down the inside of Turn 6. Still, the McLaren driver hit the right-hand sidepod of the AlphaTauri, sending it airborne and into the run-off.
While Ricciardo continued, Tsunoda brought his car back into the pits and retired from the race. The Australian received a 10-second penalty for the collision – albeit a late charge on the soft tyres earning him P7.
The Honey Badger was in a hurry! 🍿#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/UmWcqgumGE
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 31, 2022
After the race, Ricciardo said: “I just saw the replay, and it wasn’t blatant. I’ve gone in, locked [up] and crashed into him. I feel like I held a pretty tight line. It was maybe a little bit me, there were a lot of blind spots, but all we needed was to give each other 30 more centimetres and then we were good.
“The truth is, I wasn’t trying to lunge him in the corners; I was trying to stay there, hold him a little bit wide, then get the exit with the fresher tyre. But anyway, a 10 seconds penalty was more than enough to justify that, and I came back.
“I didn’t respond to Tom [Stallard, race engineer] when he said you’ve got [a] 10 seconds [penalty]. I was like, ‘The one race where we’ve got pace!’ So anyway, I got my head back down, and we eventually pulled a big enough gap on the others, so [I’m] happy.”
Tsunoda was looking to claim back-to-back points finishes after his P10 result in Austin but pondered what might have been and questioned Ricciardo’s approach to their wheel-to-wheel scrap.
“It’s such a shame. Until then, it was super good. [We] managed [the race] well, pushing in the first stint on the soft tyre, getting positions, and it’s so shocking how he overtook – it was almost impossible. I don’t know if he had damage, but it’s pretty shocking, what I had, and so frustrating.”
Tsunoda gets squeezed by Ricciardo and bounced out of the race 💥😮#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/uw8xRTrLFk
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 30, 2022
Despite the incident with Tsunoda, Ricciardo would later earn the Driver of the Day accolade after his fiery drive through the field that saw him do enough to take P7, his 10-second penalty.
And with the Australian now having just two races left with McLaren after he and the team agreed to part company a year before the conclusion of his contract, there was a hint of the bittersweet at Ricciardo’s storming performance, as he finished two spots ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
“It’s so nice,” he said of the performance. “I wish there was an explanation why it hasn’t been like this more often, races where I can lean on the car and put it where I want.
“There’s only a few left; better late than never, happy to have had an attacking race. I feel normally if we’re in the points, we’re looking in the mirrors, so to come through the field felt good, and the team, I’m sure, feel happy and relieved after the penalty.”
