Ricciardo seems only eager to return to Red Bull: 'More fun up front'
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Daniel Ricciardo is extremely pleased with his seventh-place finish in the Mexican Grand Prix, but the AlphaTauri driver had secretly hoped for something more from P4 on the grid. The 34-year-old driver said he had "more fun to fight at the front". In previous GPs this year, Ricciardo often drove outside the top ten in the AT04.
Whether Ricciardo is happy with the six World Championship points? "Yes. To be honest, when I saw the red flag, I was like ‘urgggh’, because the race was just kind of going very nice and smooth and we were in fifth and everything was kind of on plan and at that point, it looked like we could have finished fifth." Due to the red flag, a restart followed, and all existing gaps were closed.
The gap to eventual race number six George Russell was just half a second at the finish line. Ricciardo was just a few laps short of passing the Mercedes driver. "I think we still did well to still grab a top-seven… I think sixth would have been even nicer but to fight a Mercedes at the end of the race – big picture, we have to be very happy," he explained to Formula1.com.
Back at the front of the grid
It was a long time since Ricciardo could fight with the guys at the front. "It’s definitely more fun fighting at the front. It just feels better, feels right, so happy with the weekend and we’ll try to keep this thing rolling.”
Ricciardo will no doubt be hoping for a promotion to Red Bull so that he can compete for wins and podiums again on a structural basis in 2024, but for now Sergio Perez is contracted to be with Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen's teammate next year.