Home race for Daniel Ricciardo last weekend in Melbourne, one that had not started out so well, with him qualifying at the very back in P18 — out of 19 drivers, as Logan Sargeant had to sit out and give his car to teammate Alex Albon.
To try and make up for it on race day, he went out on track with a rather aggressive strategy, pitting early on to try and get clear air, only to find everyone in the midfield area reacted to it or did something similar.
“I feel like everyone pitted really early as well,” he said after the race.
“Obviously, the idea was to try and come out and get a little bit of a clear track, but I think everyone was pretty on it – maybe they were struggling as well. I guess they started on the mediums, so maybe that wasn’t nice for them.
“I don’t really know how far we could have gone through the pack, so it probably worked a little bit. Could have maybe worked more, I don’t know.
“But I think, obviously when you’re at the back, you’ve got to try something and certainly, it wasn’t silly.”
Ultimately, Ricciardo crossed the finish line in P12 at the end of an action filled race, which saw championship leader Max Verstappen retire, as well as the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
“I came into this weekend, really, honestly, deep down believing like we were going to have a very, very good weekend,” commented Ricciardo.
After a disappointing season with McLaren in 2022 the Australian had taken some time away from Formula 1, to return halfway through last season with AlphaTauri.
This year had started with great expectations, but so far he has been struggling to make the most out of his single-seater, never being able to qualify higher than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished in P7 at Albert Park.
“I didn’t expect to start the season like this,” he shared.
“Budapest last year, I drove the car a day before and then out-qualified Yuki and had a really strong race with no knowledge.
“Then having a full pre-season and all the races last year, I honestly thought that this year we would start a lot stronger.”
Three rounds into the season, Ricciardo is quite aware of the disappointment around his performance, but set on the next races and what can be improved.
“I understand, not only me, but a few people are wondering why. The important thing is that I stay on course, not that my head is filled with nonsense or anything.
“I honestly feel good and just, unfortunately, the results haven’t made me feel awesome. But deep down behind the wheel, I feel good and excited and just want to keep racing.
“I’m sure we will find a bit more on myself and I still believe maybe we’ll find a little something on the car.”
In such a negative moment, however, Ricciardo seems to be keeping his positive mindset without letting “any of that negative stuff creep in.”
“I know that I’m on this little process or journey at the moment. I just need to focus on myself. I think if I let any of the noise in, it’s going to distract me from the path I’m on.”
