‘I was in the fight, which hasn’t been often this year’: Ricciardo’s Mexican GP transcript

2022 Mexican GP team radio transcript

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The Mexican Grand Prix was a rare bright spot in an otherwise forgettable 2022 campaign for Daniel Ricciardo.

The McLaren driver is marking time until the end of the season following the announcement he will not return to the team again in 2023 as planned.

He qualified outside the top 10 again in Mexico, but on race day tyre strategy fell in his favour. Despite being penalised for a tangle with Yuki Tsunoda, he picked up a badly-needed points finish for McLaren, which moved them closer to rivals Alpine in the constructors championship.

Ricciardo freely admitted afterwards he had been able to jump ahead of team mate Lando Norris thanks to a mid-race change in strategy. Both drivers started the race on the medium rubber, but after Norris pitted for the hard tyres, McLaren realised the soft tyres would work for the second stint, and Ricciardo took a set of those.

While he dismissed Norris’ claim that the strategy was worth as much as 40 seconds, Ricciardo acknowledged he benefited from pitting later and choosing a different compound.

“If it was 40 seconds, everyone would have done it,” said Ricciardo. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was the better strategy, there’s no doubt. But it was in our plan, if the tyre was lasting, keep going and try to attack at the end. And that’s what we did.”

Daniel Ricciardo’s 2022 Mexican Grand Prix team radio messages

Ricciardo was involved in a first-corner collision at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 12 months earlier. This time he was more cautious, but lost two places on the opening lap, as Yuki Tsunoda starting strongly immediately behind him and Zhou Guanyu found a way past too.

Lap: 1 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’33.983
StallardBrake bal forwards two clicks.
Lap: 2 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’25.959
StallardBrakes still coming in so just no lift-and-coast turn one and turn four. Consider orange torque three.
StallardOkay. Brakes are good. Strat seven. Strat seven.
Lap: 3 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’26.170
StallardDRS enabled.
Lap: 4 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’25.498
StallardVettel 0.6, Daniel PU starting to get hot, pull to the left where you can.
Lap: 5 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’24.721
StallardGap to Vettel 0.6. Overtake available. Vettel has also been told lift-and-coast for temperatures.
Lap: 6 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’24.629
StallardGap to Vettel 0.9. Daniel, turn four is the hottest place for PU, lift into T4 will help if you’re not fighting Zhou.
Lap: 7 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’25.571

While McLaren were concerned about managing the rising temperatures in his car, Ricciardo was trying to regain his place from Zhou, which he eventually managed.

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Lap: 8 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’25.076
StallardVettel 0.7. Daniel, the lift into turn four helps a lot. I appreciate you need to fight with Zhou but when you’re not fighting the lift into turn four helps a lot.
Lap: 9 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.528
StallardOkay you can use overtake out of three as well. You can use overtake out of three. Let me know about tyres if you can.
RicciardoYeah all good. I’ve got him this time.
StallardLift off in turn four…
Ricciardo…now in clear air.
StallardCopy, next car Tsunoda.
RicciardoI’ll just try and let temps settle a bit.
StallardCopy.
StallardZhou 0.7, you can use overtake final corner.

Getting past Zhou was important, as Ricciardo was able to put five seconds on the Alfa Romeo before his pit stop.

“The one thing that kept me a little optimistic was I was quicker than Zhou and I feel like the Alfas had been quick all weekend,” he said afterwards. “So I was losing time with him but eventually when I passed him I thought, ‘okay, maybe we’re we’re still in this race’.”

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Lap: 10 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.666
StallardZhou 0.8.
RicciardoUnderstood. I had a bit of a power surge out of 12.
StallardCopy
Lap: 11 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.770
StallardTsunoda last lap 24.9. Gap is 2.2. Zhou is 0.9, still just in DRS.
RicciardoRelatively stable at the moment, low grip but fairly stable.
Lap: 12 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.745
StallardZhou 0.9. Daniel you’ve been doing fuel five, fuel three would be okay.
RicciardoUnderstood.
StallardSuggest orange torque four for rears.
Lap: 13 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.321
StallardZhou 0.9.
StallardAlonso’s P7. His last lap 24.7.
Lap: 14 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.495
StallardZhou 1.1.

At this stage in the race McLaren were still on ‘plan A’ for Ricciardo, indicating they planned to pit for the hard tyre compound. He indicated he preferred that strategy.

Ricciardo was also concerned with trying to improve his car’s braking performance, which has been a recurring theme since his joined the team last year.

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Lap: 15 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.664
StallardOkay Tsunoda 1.5 seconds ahead is on soft.
RicciardoUnderstood. This is more or less my pace at the moment.
StallardPace is good.
StallardDaniel we think plan A target lap at the moment, plan A.
RicciardoUnderstood, I’ll keep you posted.
Lap: 16 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.713
Lap: 17 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.675
Lap: 18 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.886
RicciardoWhat they’re doing.
StallardAlonso 24.3. So Alonso is 8.9 seconds ahead of you, Bottas is behind him.
Lap: 19 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.787
RicciardoStruggling a bit more with the front last few laps.
StallardCopy.
RicciardoDo you think there’s margin for the brake two? Shape two.
StallardThere’s margin for shape two if you also put orange torque four. Shape two, torque four.
RicciardoOkay. Think I need the torque.
Lap: 20 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.687
StallardConsider brake balance plus one and shape two. Brake balance plus one and shape two, to protect the rears at the bite. Alonso 24.2.
Lap: 21 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.649
StallardDaniel do you think we’re more like plan B or plan A.
RicciardoMore like plan A.
StallardCopy.
Lap: 22 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.730
StallardCould be an opportunity, minimum speed turn 11.
RicciardoLast lap you matched Ocon and Lando, three tenths faster than Tsunoda. Cars on softs starting to see graining, front-left.
Lap: 23 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.559
RicciardoOpportunity turn 13 slightly earlier braking to set the corner up more.
Lap: 24 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.922
StallardDaniel front-left caliper is warm but within limits. If you pull slightly left to cool… Correction, front-right caliper is warm but within limits. If you pull slightly right to cool front-right caliper you’ll have more margin to attack Tsunoda.
Lap: 25 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.823
RicciardoWhat was the gap at the DRS line? Felt like I was close.
Stallard1.3. 1.3.
Lap: 26 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.789
StallardTsunoda 1.1, consider top-left toggle turns seven to 10 to help rotation.
RicciardoRoger.
Lap: 27 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.530
StallardTsunoda 1.1.
Lap: 28 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’24.886

The first front runners to pit were those who, unlike the McLaren drivers, started on the soft compounds. The Mercedes drivers had started on mediums and opted for hards when they came in.

McLaren appeared to be encouraged by what they saw of Lewis Hamilton’s initial sector times on hards, and swiftly brought Norris in. Meanwhile Ricciardo was told to push in anticipation of his pit stop.

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Lap: 29 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’24.919
StallardThe Ferrari just pitted, Leclerc should be just behind you.
Lap: 30 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’24.744
StallardOkay we see Tsunoda’s pitted, Daniel. The car behind is Leclerc, we just don’t want to lose time with Leclerc.
StallardHamilton has just pitted for a hard, I’ll let you know how he gets on.
StallardOkay. Leclerc 0.5. Hamilton was green in sector three on his out-lap on hard.
Lap: 31 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’25.432
RicciardoOkay.
StallardBlue harvest five, blue harvest five. Lando’s just pitted. He’s going to try the hard. After Tsunoda Zhou is still the car behind, 4.6 seconds behind. See what we can get out of this tyre now, DR.

Ricciardo was within four seconds of his team mate when Norris pitted, which gave him encouragement. “I could see Lando and the guys, they were certainly, some laps, quicker,” he recalled. “But then I would reel them back. So I felt I was still in the fight, which hasn’t been very often this year.

“So I was kind of just doing my pace and once I saw they pitted, I wasn’t really that tempted to follow them because it just puts me in that race and I’m just behind them.”

Lap: 32 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’24.527
StallardSuggest red mid four. Rid mid four.
Lap: 33 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’24.526
StallardOcon last lap 24.3, he’s still out. Alonso and Bottas also still out, 23.9.
StallardOcon is about to be passed by Sainz so that will cost him time. He is nine seconds ahead.

While Norris couldn’t ‘switch on’ the hards immediately, McLaren were intrigued to note Vettel had started the race on a set of soft tyres and was still going strong. They began to think about switching Ricciardo to softs instead – ‘plan C’.

Ricciardo was open to the idea. “Tom kept asking me how much longer I could go. I said, even though my pace might not be the fastest car on the track, I felt like we can keep stretching it.

“I think Vettel was still on a soft doing well, so that gave me some confidence that tyre would work. And it was certainly a good strategy.”

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Lap: 34 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.473
StallardOcon has pitted. Let’s have strat 11, more pace.
StallardOcon pitted for hard. Silver entry five, silver entry five. DR temperatures are under control at the moment. We’re just looking for a good pace on the rest of this tyre.
StallardSo Daniel, this pace is still decent. Feedback from the other car, hard tyre took-one-and-a-half laps to come in. They were careful braking for turn one, difficult rears for one-and-a-half-laps, now it’s okay.
Lap: 35 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.297
RicciardoUnderstood. This is a relatively stable.
StallardLando last lap 24.2.
Lap: 36 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.408
StallardVettel is still out on soft, we are considering plan C. It would be plan C target minus five to 10. Any thoughts?
RicciardoYep, understood, happy.
Lap: 37 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.328
StallardPace is still good. Zhou now 5.6 behind, Lando last lap 24.0.
StallardAnd Tsunoda last lap 24.0 as well.
Lap: 38 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.435
StallardThis pace is good Daniel. This pace is good.
StallardWe are in the window, Safety Car and VSC, we are in the window.
Lap: 39 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’24.631
Lap: 40 Position: 8 Lap time: 1’24.537
Lap: 41 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’24.508
StallardAlonso just pitted for hard he’s going to be five seconds behind you.
RicciardoUnderstood.
Lap: 42 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’24.986

By lap 41 Ricciardo was losing well over half a second per lap compared to Norris, and McLaren decided it was time to bring him in.

Lap: 43 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’24.601
StallardDaniel, how’s the tyre?
RicciardoDropped off a bit that last lap but it’s still relatively okay.
StallardSo, Daniel, we’re plan C, plan C.
RicciardoUnderstood.
Lap: 44 Position: 8 Lap time: 1’27.285
StallardOkay. Daniel, we’re box this lap. Box this lap, end of this lap. Use the tyre now.
RicciardoUnderstood. Plan C, correct?
StallardPlan C.
StallardOkay big left turn 12 for PU temperatures at the stop.
StallardBox this lap. box this lap.
RicciardoConfirm, box.
Lap: 45 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’42.369
RicciardoDaniel pit lane.
StallardLaunch map, launch map. Top-left toggle for front locking protection turn one.
StallardOkay you’re out just ahead of Hamilton and Perez. Hamilton is four seconds behind.
RicciardoWhat time is everyone doing?
Lap: 46 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’22.232
Stallard23.7 is a good reference, 23.7.
RicciardoOkay.
StallardVettel behind on medium, 23.2, Vettel is eight seconds behind.
StallardAnd limit on this time will be front-left graining. Managed the tyre turn six and turn 10. Tsunoda ahead 23.7.

Ricciardo was immediately happy with the decision to take the soft rubber. “As soon as I got out the pits, the tyre was so much better,” he said. “I could lean on it and I felt like I was in control.

“So I was like, let’s just use this to see what it is, see what it’s got. And then it stayed relatively consistent. So I kind of pushed really hard and just tried to manage it and it was still giving me a lot more pace.”

Lap: 47 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’22.220
StallardThis pace is good, Daniel, this place is excellent.
Lap: 48 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’22.022
StallardOkay gap to Tsunoda 2.4, there are 23 laps to go.
Lap: 49 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’23.189
StallardTsunoda 1.05.

He quickly caught Tsunoda, who had started on softs and switched to mediums 15 laps before Ricciardo pitted. The McLaren was much quicker, but when Ricciardo took a half-look up the inside of the AlphaTauri at turn sixt, the pair made contact, leaving his rival with race-ending bodywork damage.

There was little discussion of the collision on the radio besides the team noting Ricciardo’s car had emerged unscathed.

Lap: 50 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’26.383
StallardOvertake available.
StallardDaniel we have a blue flag for Hamilton. We have a blue flag for Hamilton.
StallardAnd Perez is now the car behind, blue flag for Perez.
StallardTyre pressures okay so far, tyre pressures okay.
RicciardoYeah car’s fine, car’s fine. Is there more blue flags behind Perez?
Lap: 51 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’24.887
StallardNo you’re okay now, you’re okay for a bit.
StallardSo Perez has been doing 23.1. Let’s go with him.
Lap: 52 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’22.817
StallardOcon 10 is seconds ahead. He should take these two blue flags Hamilton and Perez. Ocon last lap to 23.5.
Lap: 53 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’22.722

The stewards swiftly handed down a 10-second time penalty for a move they viewed as “too late and too optimistic”. But McLaren, realising how strong Ricciardo’s pace was, told him it made no difference to their strategy.

Lap: 54 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’22.836
StallardDaniel, we’ve been given a 10-second penalty for that collision, we’ve been given a 10-second penalty.
StallardThe car behind is Latifi, just left the pits a lap down.
StallardDaniel, the plan is still the same. Getting 10 seconds ahead of these cars is not impossible. Keep following Perez. We can do this.
StallardLando’s just let Hamilton through.

Ricciardo was unhappy with the penalty. He’d been penalised for a collision with Carlos Sainz Jnr at Imola earlier in the year, but on that occasion felt he’d made a mistake.

But he kept his counsel on the radio. “I figured they probably had to do something,” he said afterwards. “But also it’s so hard when you’re in the heat of battle.

“I didn’t remember locking [up] like with Carlos in Imola, turn one, I went off the apex and slid into him. It didn’t feel like that. I was going to come on the radio and vent a little, but I chose to say nothing, I went pretty dark and then just decided to keep pushing and try to make up for it.”

Ricciardo’s frustration was no doubt soothed by picking up a position from his team mate, who was told to let him by. “Daniel is the car behind Perez,” Will Joseph advised Norris, “he will be quicker than you, let him go, he has a 10-second penalty.”

Lap: 55 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’22.859
StallardLet’s go get Bottas, Daniel.
StallardBottas has blue flags now.
Lap: 56 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’23.428

Ricciardo picked up another place from Bottas and closed on the two Alpines – McLaren’s main championship rivals. As he closed on them, Alonso’s car developed an engine problem and he was an easy target. Ricciardo also took Ocon for seventh.

Lap: 57 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’22.616
StallardGood job, Daniel. Now, let’s keep pulling away from him, keep pulling away. He’s going to take a blue flag from Russell, that will increase the gap.
StallardOcon is six seconds ahead. He’ll take the blue flags shortly.
Lap: 58 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’23.016
StallardBottas is taking a blue flag right behind you now. Alonso is slow on the straight, he’s lost battery. Alonso is seven seconds ahead.
RicciardoUnderstood.
StallardOcon has blue flags.
Lap: 59 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’23.458
StallardOkay gap to Bottas is already 5.5. Let’s keep pulling on him. We can get Ocon.
RicciardoUnderstood.
Lap: 60 Position: 8 Lap time: 1’24.437

With his superior pace, Ricciardo now had to pull out a 10-second lead over Ocon to negate the effect of his post-race penalty. But he was at risk of being lapped by George Russell, who was closing in behind.

“In the last few laps I was pretty nervous because George was so close to getting a blue flag for me and I knew I would lose a couple of seconds with that and that would have dropped me back into Ocon,” said Ricciardo. “So I was pushing like hell just to try and hold that two-second gap.”

To Ricciardo’s relief, Russell made an extra pit stop to fit a fresh set of tyres in a bid to set the fastest lap and take a bonus point. That meant Ricciardo did not have to slow for blue flags, saving him precious seconds. “I’ll buy him a beer,” Ricciardo joked after the race.

Lap: 61 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.804
StallardOkay we want to keep the gap on, Russell, Daniel, keep the gap on Russell. Russell last lap, 23.4.
StallardUse more [lift and coast] turn 12.
Lap: 62 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.740
StallardOkay Bottas 6.3. If you can stay ahead from Russell this is do-able. Nine to go.
RicciardoJust tell Russell George to stay behind. That’ll help.
StallardPU temperatures are good now.
Lap: 63 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.735
StallardConsidered torque four to protect the rears, your call.
RicciardoIs my time to George good?
Stallard22.7. Bottas 24.1 gap is 8.0.

Ricciardo’s effort to build up a lead was briefly interrupted when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed in reaction to Alonso’s retirement. It did not last long, however, to the disappointment of Norris, who was lobbying McLaren to use the opportunity to pit him for a set of softs.

Lap: 64 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’36.245
StallardOkay Bottas 9.3, Alonso 8.1, Ocon 5.8. This is good Daniel. Russell 1.7 behind.
StallardVirtual Safety Car. Virtual Safety Car. Delta positive. Daniel, recharge on.
StallardSo drive to the delta. DR cool the car where you can. Remember to avoid polishing brakes. So this yellow flag is for Alonso stopped at turn one. Ocon is currently 12 seconds behind. Lando 14, Bottas 17.
Lap: 65 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’26.779
StallardThey’re moving the car now. This could end soon. VSC ending, recharge off. Recharge off.
StallardOcon seven seconds, Ocon seven seconds.

Over the final laps Ricciardo pulled out the gap he needed over Ocon, thanks in part to Russell pitting.

Lap: 66 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.662
StallardFive laps to go Russell 2.5, Ocon 7.5.
Lap: 67 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.667
StallardOkay all temperatures are good. Russell 2.2. Ocon 8.6. Daniel, lift-and-coast only for tyres.
RicciardoUnderstood.
Lap: 68 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.801
RicciardoWhat time did Russell just do?
StallardRussell 22 five. Gap is 2.0, Ocon 9.6. Three to go.
Lap: 69 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’22.955
StallardStrat nine, strat nine. Russell 2.1, Ocon 10.5. Russell pit lane.
StallardOcon last lap, 23.8. Ocon last lap 23.8.
RicciardoOkay. Yeah, that was my question.
StallardGap 10.8.

He took the chequered flag inside the points-paying positions for only the sixth time this year.

Lap: 70 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’23.318
StallardOcon 11.2, this is the last lap, 11.4.
StallardOcon 11.7.
Finishing position: 7
StallardWell done, Daniel. Well done. Ocon 12.1. Good job, buddy. Good job. P7. We need to cool the car on the in-lap. So high speed and big lift-offs please. Priority on cooling. Fuel’s fine.
RicciardoOkay, understood. Alrighty, that was fun.
StallardYeah great work, mate. Great work, racing the top cars at the end. That was good. And made up for the penalty. Just drive faster, right?
RicciardoYep. Alrighty, cool beans.
StallardYeah. Really good job. So finishing order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Sainz. Leclerc, yourself, Ocon, Lando, Bottas.
RicciardoSo obviously good call on strategy. Very good call, thank you.
StallardJust take care through 13,14 in case there’s people there for the podium stuff. We’re coming back to the pit lane, even though it feels like you deserve more. Well done buddy, that’s really good.
StallardNice DR. Big fan of your work. You need to turn the car fully off, so kill the engine, wait five seconds, then kill it, turn fully off. Hopefully there’ll be some guys to put calliper fans in.

Not only did the result come as a relief to Ricciardo, he was pleased to have had a rare race in which he felt he could attack. “Even the points finishes, even probably last year, I feel we were normally defending than attacking,” he said. “So just to have an attacking race, especially for me with this car, to feel like I can attack a little bit more with it, it’s just a nice feeling.”

However with just two races left as a McLaren driver, Ricciardo isn’t getting carried away about his future chances on the basis of a single strong race.

“I guess better late than never,” he said on Sunday evening in Mexico City. “I’m going to take today for what it is. I’m going to enjoy it and appreciate that we did our pace and it was awesome and whatever.

“I hope it means that it’ll be like that the next two races, but I don’t want to be negative, but I don’t even want to look ahead. I just want to take today for what it is and hopefully we’ve learnt something from it.”

2022 Mexican Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “‘I was in the fight, which hasn’t been often this year’: Ricciardo’s Mexican GP transcript”

  1. People seem to love bash Ricciardo, but this is the guy who in his first race with RBR qualified 2nd and finished 2nd (the Merc was already uncatchable) while Seb qualified 12th at a time he still had unlimited confidence and then in his second was racing nose-to-tail with his teammate for third until his car died. And so on.

    I couldn’t help notice even though in Q2 although Norris was 9th and DR was 11th Buxton was acting like it was yet just another awful performance and then at the start of the race DR lost two places while Lando lost three and Buxton kept saying “oh what an awful start from Daniel!” Buxton also talks about his bad performances beginning while he was at Renault despite him crushing both his two teammates who Buxton constantly caws about.

    It’s true Daniel has displayed a big weakness for not being able to adapt a car that has obviously both braking and handling characteristics that are totally opposite to those of he likes. However, meanwhile slugs like Magnussen (I totally thought MSC should be gone initially, but now his upside is way bigger than Kevin’s), liabilities like Gasly who has had all of one good season, Bottas who has basically been matched by a rookie, etc. seem to come in for minimal criticism at best.

    Don’t get me wrong, Daniel has deserved a lot of criticism, but IMO, it’s absurd that anyone thinks Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, etc. are actually better bets for the future.

    1. “this is the guy who in his first race with RBR qualified 2nd and finished 2nd (the Merc was already uncatchable) while Seb qualified 12th”

      Yeah we all know Ricciardo was generally good in 2014 and Vettel was not but next race (Malaysin GP) it was Vettel who qualified 2nd in heavy rain conditions losing only 0.055 to Hamilton (uncatchable) and Ricciardo was like 1s slower.

      1. Ric has never been good in rain, which actually makes sense with his McLaren struggles. He needs confidence in his car, can’t handle instability/driving on the absolute edge.

  2. Was it the rack or the car? It seems as if Mclaren finally grants him a car he can work with but its too little, too late.

    1. track == rack

    2. I’d think it’s track specific, monza he’s been good both mclaren years for example, and this year in particular there was a period of resurgence, then he fell back to performing badly and now he had a couple good races again.

  3. Shout-out @Keith and Racefans for creating this kind of analysis. Brilliant stuff. I wish other media spent more time producing this kind of valuable content as opposed to spinning gossip and stirring up contrived old narratives.

    Well done!

    1. Yeah, I agree there @ajpennypacker this kind of analyses is really a great insight and unique to this site.

  4. Exciting transcript!

  5. It is telling this performance is now dubbed “bright spot”. There was a time when being lucky your teammate was put on the wrong strategy so you’d get the right one, and then using the softest tire to overtake a few cars on the hardest tire was called average or normal. Add to that that the one car that did not have the hards was Tsunoda and promptly that pass was fudged. .. 10 second penalty… I don’t know, bright spot just seems exaggerated

    1. I just miss the old Daniel I guess

    2. I think Daniel is a personality that all sports need and a far better than average F1 driver or multiple GP winner, and coming from the same neck of the woods have a soft spot for him. I think I grasp what he is on about but seriously in the fight for a midfield position is some sort of achievement? Well maybe in this years McLaren it is but seems lower than whathis expectations should be.

      1. @jjohn Easy to criticize someone when you literally make up what they said. He didn’t call it an achievement. He said it felt good to be on the attack. And, considering the car’s pace, it was an achievement. Just like every time Lando has maximized the car’s potential and finished in a similar position, it was an achievement. Basically, 7th is first for best of the rest vs the top three teams, which have significantly more pace than

    3. Ricciardo called the strategy himself and recognized the tires were still working. That’s not luck. Besides, it goes underreported that Ricciardo has suffered many more technical issues this season, but I wouldn’t call Norris lucky because he didn’t suffer nearly as many. He’s just been faster and didn’t suffer as many issues.

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