Daniel Ricciardo unlocked part of his old self in Mexico City to surmount a ten-second penalty and seize a well-deserved seventh-place finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The McLaren driver's competitive pace and decisive overtakes, coupled with a perfectly executed strategy, were a hark back to Ricciardo's old opportunistic style as an all-out racer, especially after his dismal weekend in Austin.
Losing a couple of places at the start was made by a 44-lap stint on the medium tyre that carried Ricciardo to P7 from where he pitted for softs and pushed back up from 13th to 7th.
During his charge, a risky lunge at Yuki Tsunoda led to a clash that sent the AlphaTauri driver into retirement and yielded a 10-second penalty for Ricciardo who had survived the collision.
But the sanction was just another incentive for the Honey Badger to press on. Ultimately, Ricciardo managed to put 12 seconds between himself and Alpine's Esteban Ocon to hold on to seventh.
"It was a rollercoaster of a race," the Aussie said. "Ultimately, I'm happy.
"I wish it was more of a smooth race in terms of you never want to have contact, and you never want to receive a penalty.
"So that’s a little bit of a cloud over what was otherwise a good day, but ultimately it still didn’t change the outcome for us."
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Ricciardo admitted that he had made life difficult for himself by forcing the issue with Tsunoda.
"I saw a replay — I obviously take responsibility but I don’t think it was that black and white," he said.
"I held the apex — I honestly didn’t plan on actually overtaking him, I just wanted to keep him a little wide to then get him on the exit as I definitely had a much better tire, so I was just doing what I could to set him up.
"But in any case, that obviously was a little bit of a low moment, but otherwise still to pull the 10 seconds I was very happy."
The good result was a timely achievement for a driver who has been struggling for ages, and who lost his drive with McLaren because of his chronic under-performance.
©McLaren
However, Ricciardo was at a loss to understand why his from took a sudden upswing in Mexico City.
"I wish I knew (where it came from), in terms of I wish we had this more often," Ricciardo told SpeedCity Broadcasting.
"But I can’t just do one good race and say, ‘Hey, look!’ but the truth is I think when I do have a little bit of speed it’s nice to be able to show it.
"People forget and it’s just one race, but I just felt like I could lean on the car and had a bit more confidence in it and it returned the favor.
"Unfortunately, it hasn’t been often enough that I’ve had that feeling, but we ran with it.
"So they’re the days which I still find hard to answer, but when things are working as I feel a bit more normal, for sure I can be in the race."
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