McLaren hail Ricciardo blast from the past

Sam Hall
Thursday 3 November 2022 14:36

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has hailed Daniel Ricciardo's 'blast from the past' drive at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

After struggling for form since joining McLaren at the start of last season, Ricciardo leaves the team at the end of the year even though he was originally contracted through to the end of 2023.

Despite the majority of his two-year stay marred with poor performances, his drive in Mexico City ranks alongside last year's Italian Grand Prix victory as a high point.

After switching to soft tyres for his closing stint, Ricciardo scythed his way through the field before contact with AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda resulted in a 10-second penalty.

The 33-year-old remained deterred, however, and battled to claim seventh by the chequered flag, with his margin over eighth-placed Esteban Ocon good enough to negate his time loss.

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“It is clear what we have seen from him, not just in his last stint because obviously, there was this benefit of the better strategy as well," said Seidl.

"But his performance all weekend was definitely one of the best ones that we have seen from him together, which was very encouraging to see.

“It was great to see the old Daniel from the past that we all know, with some great overtaking moves as well which was a joy to watch.”

Ricciardo switched on

Ricciardo had arrived in Mexico off the back of a lacklustre weekend in the United States where he finished ahead of only Williams' Nicholas Latifi.

Asked if he could put his finger on why his driver's form had fluctuated so dramatically between events, Seidl conceded: “I don’t think there’s a particular reason.

"What Daniel has managed with his crew over the two years is that after a tough weekend in Austin, he is switched straight away and focused on the next weekend and trying to strike back.

“We could see from the first run on Friday [in Mexico] that he felt a lot more comfortable in the car and that he was getting everything out of it similar to Lando.

“And that’s what he did all weekend and that’s what mattered in the end with this great result.”