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Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri — SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 30: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 and Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C43 Ferrari battle for track position during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 30, 2023 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202307300444 // Usage for editorial use only //

Ricciardo glad he got two races to find his groove and taste back

20/08/2023

Daniel Ricciardo is glad that he got two races to get into the F1 groove as he is still getting into grips with the AlphaTauri machine.

While there were some discussions if he should join AlphaTauri after the summer break or before it, but Ricciardo believes it was a good call to get into the car in Hungary as he got two races to get into the F1 groove which he has been away from.

And this will help him to be better prepared for Zandvoort post the summer break. “I think it’s, you know, when I got the call up, in my head I was like, ‘oh, okay’, I thought we’d probably just wait for the summer break,” said Ricciardo.

“But I’m actually really glad I got these two before the break because it gives me something to certainly think about, build on, throw some questions back to the team. So, I feel like we’re gonna get to Zandvoort being much better prepared than if Zandvoort was my first race.

“And I think it kind of springboards us a bit better into the second off the season,” summed up Ricciardo, who stressed that he got a good baseline in the car which will certainly help him in the second half and that helps in building up.

“I think that’s where, even now like, 15 minutes removed from lets say the Spa race, I feel… I already feel that feel a bit better,” said Ricciardo. “I think it’s just tough when you, I guess, in a race when you’re not really making progress, that’s where you, ‘Agh!’, and you’re trying a few things, and when you try, it doesn’t work, you know, you lock up or you have a moment.

“So, yeah, you kind of just feel like, ‘Alright, today’s maybe not the day’. But as you say, I think it’s, I don’t know, weeks ago I hadn’t driven this car. So when I put everything into perspective, I think we’re okay. And from what I understand, I think the few laps we got towards the end in clear air we actually were on a decent pace. So it’s probably not all that bad. But, yeah, now that I’m back in sport, I’ve got a taste, I want to make sure that I’m kicking ass,” summed up Ricciardo.

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