Daniel Ricciardo was happy to finally get off the mark in 2022 after a comfortable run to P6 at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Aussie favourite largely shadowed McLaren teammate Lando Norris for the 58 laps around Albert Park, eventually finishing just four-tenths behind the Briton who was managing power problems on the final lap.
But it was a relatively simple race for Ricciardo, something he thinks was crucial to the Woking-based team’s stronger performance.
“I think that’s probably the best way to sum up the weekend – we’ll take it!” he said on if his race was “drama-free”.
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“I mean, after Bahrain I was still very positive and I knew we could make a turnaround. I didn’t think it would happen already, so for that reason, I’ll definitely take it.
“The weekend as a whole has been just smoother, smoother for all of us and we’ve shown a lot more for it.”
Ricciardo himself has been playing catch up after missing the second pre-season test with Covid-19, but does feel he’s getting on top of the MCL36.
“I think parts of my race were more competitive. In the beginning, I felt strong on the medium. But then on the hard that kind of last three quarters I drifted a bit back,” he explained.
“I found a bit of pace after but still in some parts of the race I can keep chipping away at.
“But yeah, team result was mega compared to the last few.”
He felt the love all weekend so this message is for you, McLaren fans. ? @DanielRicciardo#AusGP ?? pic.twitter.com/cfLCicTHF0
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 10, 2022
As for his home fans, the F1 race saw the biggest ever weekend attendance for a sporting event in Australia as a record 420,000 people packed into Albert Park across the three days.
“It has been nuts!” Ricciardo admitted. “When I got out of the car there was a pretty loud cheer and I was like, wow this is a cheer for sixth.
“I couldn’t imagine what it would be like winning here or even a podium, I would have to keep my earplugs in.
“It is pretty awesome and I’m happy for everyone that came out. I think they had a good weekend.”