Daniel Ricciardo reveals cure for hauling himself out of McLaren misery

Ricciardo, McLaren, Austria — Photo: © LAT Images

Austrian Grand Prix

Ricciardo reveals cure for hauling himself out of McLaren misery

Ricciardo stormed to seventh from 13th on the grid

Ewan Gale

Monday 5 July 2021 19:00

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Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he was not concerned by his end result at the Austrian Grand Prix and instead was more focused on "having fun" and being involved in a "fight".

The Australian continued his qualifying woes to line up only 13th on the grid, but a repeat of his sublime opening laps at the Styrian Grand Prix promoted the McLaren driver into the top 10.

An alternative strategy allowed Ricciardo to run in the top five for a portion of the race before eventually falling back to seventh to provide positivity going into the break ahead of the next race at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

Asked if he was happier with his performance on Sunday, Ricciardo said: "A little bit.

"I am trying not to be too low and too high. Qualifying wasn't great, wasn't fun. I just took a lot more enjoyment from the race, it kept me busy the whole time, I had a good start, a good restart and then the defence was tricky but it was a better day.

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"Sometimes you forget, and it is not just racing, in any occupation, the enjoyment is the most important thing because with that, you get fulfilment and you are able to do what you love to the best of your ability.

"It does get you down and I just needed that, I needed to have fun. The position somewhat didn't really matter, I just needed to get in some battles and fight, that was the most important thing."

Ricciardo hoping starts provide good omen for sprint qualifying debut

Ricciardo made ground in both starts at the Red Bull Ring to provide hope of a better starting position for the British GP where the starting grid will be determined by the inaugural sprint qualifying event.

"It is obviously easier to come through when you are out of position but it is normally a mess deep in the middle of the pack," added Ricciardo.

"Last week went well and this week went well on the first few laps but you can also get caught in a mess.

"That gives me encouragement going into sprint qualifying in Silverstone and knowing wherever I start that race, I have the confidence to start Sunday further up."