(Motorsports news) Daniel Ricciardo qualified 11th for his first race since injuring his hand in a practice crash at the Dutch GP, although he eventually started 10th after George Russell was penalized. He was moved down two positions at the start, however, and stayed in 12th place for the duration.
“I would say there were definitely some pros and cons,” he remarked of his comeback. “I think the pros were that it was fun, and I just enjoyed being back on the grid.” It’s probably my favorite feeling on a race weekend, when the lights slowly turn on and then off for the start, because that adrenaline rush is rare to come by in many other areas of life, Ricciardo remarked.
Ricciardo went on to say, “I don’t like saying it because I’m very experienced, but I’m not so experienced this year.” So I believe I have some race rust. “At Turn 1, I felt like I should have seen the inside bottle up a little sooner, and I kind of stayed there until a couple cars went on the outside.”
“Little race reads that I probably missed a little bit.” But as the race progressed, I felt like I picked up some lines and made some improvements, but there are still certain things I need to focus on for tomorrow. I was definitely happy with my qualifying today compared to yesterday, and I think I definitely found a little bit more in myself,” he continued. The inside joke is that we keep receiving P11, Ricciardo said.
“Obviously, Q3 is a big goal for us, and even though I was pleased with my lap today, we were still P11.” I’m pleased with the progress I made today. “It was just more racecraft, like I put on a good move on Stroll on the outside of one, but he got me into Turn 12,” he explained. I thought I had him covered, but I didn’t, so there were certain things there that made me think, ah, I should have made it more difficult for him.”
Ricciardo stated he had no problems with his hand during the 19-lap sprint. “To be honest, it’s been okay, today was fine,” he went on to say. “I think my biggest thing tomorrow is just race fitness.” Obviously, the two races came before the break. And then I haven’t done anything since.
