Ricciardo says there’s a lot ‘to be happy about’ after F1 return

Daniel Ricciardo states there is a lot ‘to be happy about’ in the Australian’s first return to F1 where he finished 13th at the Hungarian Grand Prix.   

Following de Vries’ departure from Alpha Tauri in between the British and Hungarian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was parachuted into the seat in place of Liam Lawson who is competing strongly in the Japanese Super Formula series. 

This meant the Hungarian Grand Prix marked the Australian’s first race back on the grid since his last race with McLaren, in Abu Dhabi, last year. On his return, Ricciardo was overall happy with his first race weekend back behind an F1 car, he said:  

“The whole weekend has been good and to come back, I really feel all the things I’ve missed in the last twelve months. I can’t ask for more on the first weekend, and it gives me confidence.”

In the Honey Badger’s first return in a competitive session, the Alpha Tauri driver qualified 13th on the grid, beating seasoned teammate Yuki Tsunoda. 

However, the hard work would come to nothing at the first corner as the #3 Alpha Tauri was rear-ended, by Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Gunayu, and collected the two Alpine’s which dropped the Australian to the bottom of the order. 

Despite the contact, Ricciardo stated he was ‘happy’ that he was able to ‘settle into a rhythm’ in clean air, after he cleared the traffic to finish the race in 13th. Ricciardo recapped:

“I got hit in turn 1, and dropped to the tail of the pack. 

“After that, we got stuck in traffic, but once we got some clear air, I could settle into a rhythm and from then on, I was happy. Our pace wasn’t bad, maybe we could’ve been in the points today, I don’t know, but our strategy was good, we were just a bit unlucky. 

“On the other hand, the contact at the start could’ve ended my race, so I’m grateful the car was still ok, and I was able to do 70 laps to learn as much as possible. 

“I’ll learn from the mistakes I made to get better and better, and I made little mental notes, which I will share with the team. Overall though, there are a lot of things to be happy about.”

Ricciardo will continue with his revived journey in F1 this weekend when the sport heads to Belgium for the Belgian Grand Prix, for the third sprint race weekend of the season, on July 28 – July 30. 

That’s all for the article; Ricciardo says there’s a lot ‘to be happy about’ after F1 return!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.