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Daniel Ricciardo is satisfied with the race pace of the AlphaTauri but not with the qualifying pace despite a few competitive performances. Speaking to on-site media after the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP, the Australian felt there have been improvements with the car and is looking forward to a better 2024 season.
With seventh place in the championship as a target, the AlphaTauri drivers were unable to eclipse Williams in the Constructors standings. However, placed last in the standings prior to Daniel Ricciardo joining the team, his Mexico performance propped them to eighth in the standings, where they eventually finished. The Aussie joined the team at the Hungarian GP and has been able to complete seven races this season despite having a hand injury.
Summarising the 2023 season with AlphaTauri, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“I think the summary of the year, the race pace, most days I was probably pretty happy with. So I think that was something that was positive. I think the race, the more laps I get into a car, the more I kind of understand it and get into the rhythm. So that explains a little bit of my feeling, positive feeling on race pace.
And certainly some standouts and then some obviously like, a few ones where we probably don't still get fully on top of it. So there’s a little bit there. So look as experienced as I am and as much as I believe in myself, I kind of underestimate.”
He added:
“Even if I put my side aside, even my engineer Pierre, he worked with three drivers this year. He is trying to set up the car for each driver, what we like and what we dont. It’s not easy for him as well. So I really look forward to a proper off-season, a preseason. And I think 2024 is going to be exciting for us.”
Hired as a third driver by Red Bull after having a dismal season with McLaren in 2022, Daniel Ricciardo was off the 2023 grid. His return to the F1 grid with AlphaTauri was the biggest of the season but did not come without its share of drama, where he wrecked his wrist in an unfortunate incident in Zandvoort.
Returning to the track at the US Grand Prix in Austin, the Australian got back into the groove of competing. At the Mexico GP, he had silenced his critics with a stellar performance of the fourth fastest time in qualifying and a seventh place finish in the race.
Summarising the 2023 stint, Daniel Ricciardo felt that the qualifying performance had a few good stints but could be improved upon. In Abu Dhabi, the Red Bull returnee qualified in 15th, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda had qualified sixth.
In terms of race pace, he felt comfortable with the car and said the more lap time he got in it, the more he improved and understood his tools. The 34-year-old claimed it was difficult for his engineers to change the setups for three drivers that drove that car. The AT04 driven by the Perth-born driver was also driven by Liam Lawson and Nyck DeVries.
Daniel Ricciardo says a lap more to the Abu Dhabi GP would have changed his result
Unsure of how much the tear-off stuck in his brake duct cost him in terms of performance, Daniel Ricciardo felt he had a decent recovery. The former Red Bull driver had started 15th on the grid and pitted in the opening laps of the race when a visor tear-off got stuck in his brake duct.
Despite the recovery, he was able to manage his pace but it was only enough to finish 11th, one place outside the points. Ricciardo felt he would have caught up with Lance Stroll who was running tenth if the Abu Dhabi GP had a lap more.
Speaking after the race on his first impressions of how it panned out, Daniel Ricciardo said:
“Yeah I kind of need to see how much it affected us cause I think for a two stop, we would have probably pitted a bit later. But I don't know if it kind of put us in a little bit of traffic or not. But I think it was not bad, we still I’d say recovered well and had a decent race.
I think obviously there are ifs and what’s and maybes but one more lap, I think we would have had Stroll or certainly would have got his DRS and had a chance at him. One lap away from a potential point, which is not too bad, obviously from where we started.”
If Daniel Ricciardo had finished the race tenth, AlphaTauri would have had one point extra but not enough to eclipse the Williams team that finished seventh, three points ahead of them.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda led the race at one point, when several drivers pitted for a different set of tyres. The Japanese driver eventually dropped to eighth place and it was going to take a top five finish for him to help the team prop themselves higher in the standings.
According to the Australian, the race was a decent one from where he started on the grid but needed a better pitstop strategy to aid him further up the grid.
