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Daniel Ricciardo claims he is content with his P7 finish at the end of the qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix. McLaren has suddenly found pace, helping Ricciardo and his teammate Lando Norris place P7 and P4 respectively ahead of Sunday's main race.
Home favorite Ricciardo has had an excellent weekend so far, proving his driving prowess around his home track. The Australian looked very comfortable in his McLaren MCL36, often placing in the top-10 throughout all three practice sessions.
Despite the team's woes heading into the Australian Grand Prix, Ricciardo claimed the team's goal was to make it into Q3 and that he is happy with his qualifying performance. Speaking about his performance in comparison to Norris' P4 finish, he said:
“I don’t want to say I definitely had him or whatever. I don’t want to make it an excuse. The whole weekend, the session itself - if you remove the last lap - I think we are happy and we are happy and have a good race car. And yeah, 7th - it is a lot better than 13th or whatever else I have qualified this year. So we’ll take the little win for now.”
Daniel Ricciardo had a wild reception in Melbourne
Daniel Ricciardo had a busy Thursday as Melbourne welcomed him back to the Australian GP. The sport has returned to the iconic venue for the first time since 2019 due to COVID-19 restrictions in the country. The Australian is wildly popular in his home country, with many of the fans supporting and cheering him on as he drove around the track. The driver, however, claimed support for him at Albert Park turned up a notch in 2022, possibly due to the sport's absence from the venue.
Speaking to the media, he said:
“It’s always been pretty wild here so there’s no denying that. I don’t recall ever competing at a quiet home race – I think it’s always been pretty good, and the reception’s always been there – but it felt like it was turned up a notch or two, or three. Obviously we’ll see now the crowds coming more and more over the weekend but for a Thursday, I’m talking about around the world, it was the busiest Thursday I’ve experienced walking around a paddock. I think everyone’s just stoked to have the race back here; there’s a lot of motorsport enthusiasts and you feel that.”
While Daniel Ricciardo initially claimed that he would be happy with a points finish in his home race, he would now be looking to place within the top-5 at least, having qualified in P7. Catch the action live as F1 goes racing around Albert Park on Sunday, April 10.
