Daniel Ricciardo yearning for Australia win after "crazy" fan reaction

Ricciardo with fans in Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

McLaren

Ricciardo yearning for Australia win after "crazy" fan reaction

Ricciardo has not yet tasted victory at his home race

Sam Hall

Thursday 14 April 2022 13:50

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed it would be "unbelievable" to score a future win at the Australian Grand Prix after his home fans went wild for his sixth-place finish at Albert Park.

Ricciardo has only stood on the Melbourne podium once after finishing second for Red Bull in the event's 2014 running, although this result is not reflected in the history books after he was later disqualified for a fuel-flow breach.

The Australian bounced back from a tough first two races of the year last weekend to score his first points of the campaign by finishing sixth.

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Asked about the buzz he gets from the fans cheering his name, Ricciardo explained: “It’s crazy. I got sixth and everyone was cheering like I got a podium.

"The feeling to win here would be pretty unbelievable so I’ll keep trying but everyone has been amazing and I think they all had a really good weekend so that’s what I set into the start of the week [to do].”

McLaren 'time to develop' for Imola

Despite McLaren's positive result, Lando Norris, who crossed the line in fifth, was downbeat after the race suggesting the outcome had been achieved more through the track playing to the strengths of the MCL36 than through improvements made to the car.

With a weekend off before the next race at Imola, Ricciardo is hopeful the team can produce a few upgrades to continue the push forward.

He added: “We’ve got another week off now so I think any time when it’s not back to back, it gives the team a chance back at the factory to develop a few items on the car so maybe we’ll see a little bit more but time will tell.”