"We have never doubted"- Daniel Ricciardo still a 'top driver', claims McLaren boss after his P5 finish at 2022 F1 Singapore GP

Daniel Ricciardo accomplished his best finish of the season as yet, bagging P5 at the 2022 F1 Singapore GP. It was by far his best drive of the season as the Aussie went up from P16 to P5. Lando Norris finished fourth and this was the first double top five of the season as well. McLaren boss Andreas Seidl was obviously very happy about it and gave a special mention to Daniel Ricciardo for the same. He claimed that McLaren never doubted Daniel Ricciardo and that he is still a 'top driver'.

In the post-match interview, he said:

"I'm just very happy for him, for the entire side of his garage, because they've worked so hard all year, including Daniel, in order to score such a result, and that's why it's so great that it finally worked out and everything came together."

"I guess Daniel has shown today, in these tricky conditions, that he is – and we have never doubted – still a natural top driver."

He went on to say:

"Hopefully that [now] gives him and his crew a big boost in order to make sure that in the final five races together, we keep scoring good points, because that's going to be very important for our battle we are in in the Constructors' Championship."

He also added:

"It was a great recovery from starting in P16, to get to P5, which is well deserved, looking at all the commitment and hard work that went in from Daniel and his crew throughout the year, so very happy."

Andreas Seidl was also particularly stoked about Alpine's double retirement, which brought McLaren back to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

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Daniel Ricciardo 'needed this' result at Singapore

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo is thoroughly relieved after 2022 F1 Singapore GP results. It was one long awaited with the difficult year he has been having. The McLaren driver is feeling good after a long time and wants to enjoy the result before having to focus on Japan.

Post race, Daniel said:

"We needed this, and as much as I’m looking forward to Japan, I want to enjoy this one. I feel with the result, you know, I certainly feel good – it’s been a long time. I think my last top five was probably a year ago in Saudi… so yeah, I hadn’t had one this year, which is kind of sad, but we know the year it’s been and I feel like I was certainly due some good fortune."

The safety car situations were played out right by the team, as Ricciardo said, and it was perfectly used to get a gain on the others. He added:

"That was a good situation for us and finally, got back into the points, and obviously a very big day for the team. So, we leave Sunday happy. It’s been a long time."

He had been consistently vastly outperformed by his teammate Lando Norris throughout the season and this strategic finish must definitely be a much-needed refreshment for Daniel Ricciardo.