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Daniel Ricciardo reflected on the pace he had in the AlphaTauri in Brazil and expressed disappointment at the regulation setback.
Ever since returning to the Formula 1 grid, the Australian driver has gone through a lot. The injury he sustained after crashing out during a practice session of the Dutch GP kept him out for over a month before returning to race in the USA.
He eventually scored his first points of the season in Mexico after finishing P7. While AlphaTauri has been largely uncompetitive throughout the season, there was a marked improvement visible in Brazil's main race, where his teammate Yuki Tsunoda managed to finish P9.
While it could have ended better for Daniel Ricciardo, he was the second-last to finish ahead of Oscar Piastri as they had to start the race a lap down. Formu1a.uno quoted Ricciardo as saying:
"They did a great job, and we were ready to go on time – and then they told us we were a lap down."
"On top of that, I want to say we were exceptionally fast today. We couldn’t always show it because we were a lap down," he added.
After Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen crashed out in the opening lap of the race, Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri sustained damage to their cars. The red flag, however, allowed the teams to repair the cars and race again; but both drivers had to start the race a lap down and hence finished out of points.
Daniel Ricciardo 'frustrated' after not contributing in the team's battle with Williams
After their recent developments, AlphaTauri has risen from the bottom of the standings to eighth place with 21 points in their bag. Currently, they are within touching distance of Williams who are just seven points ahead in seventh place.
After Albon's crash, there was just Logan Sargeant who was racing for the team and he finished out of points. Daniel Ricciardo was frustrated because this could have been a great opportunity for the team to earn more points, but he could not contribute because of the regulations.
"I feel for the team. For me and my Championship? I’m not in a Championship hunt. But I’m here to help the team get 7th, and I feel I could’ve heavily contributed today."
Daniel Ricciardo has scored 6 points so far in the season and with the pace of the car that was witnessed in Brazil, he could be in contention for more. There are only two more races to go in the season, but he already has a contract for the 2024 season with the team. So he has ample time to prove his worth of moving to a more competitive team.
