Daniel Ricciardo says he’ll get his “elbows out” on the opening lap of Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, but the AlphaTauri charger also won’t do anything crazy that could compromise his race.
Ricciardo qualified an impressive fourth on Saturday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after a remarkable effort that delivered to the Faenza-based outfit its best starting position since the Turkish Grand Prix in 2021 with Pierre Gasly.
But the performance was also a personal best for Ricciardo since Monza in 2021 when he qualified fifth for the Italian Grand Prix, a race that he also won.
“It’s just cool to be that far up the grid again. It’s been a while,” he said on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m going to guess it’s probably Monza or something last time in 2021, sometime in 2021 I was on the second row of the grid. It’s cool.
“There’s part of me which for the next hour wants to celebrate today, because it’s certainly a day that should be celebrated. I think the team as well, it’s not often they qualify this far up the grid, especially this year.
“But I don’t think the car we had this weekend is a P10 in the Constructors’ car. It’s definitely been a more competitive car.
“I’m just glad I got the most out of it. Next hour we’ll enjoy, but then definitely focus on tomorrow and try to turn this into a [haul of] points.”
©AlphaTauri
From the start, it’s a long run down the main straight and into the track’s first corner. Asked if he had a specific game plan for how he’ll manage his start, Ricciardo suggested that he’ll be taking an aggressive approach but with a measured amount of risk.
“Lap 1, get your elbows out but nothing too crazy, let’s say,” he said. “It’s one of those ones, you can be too conservative and you’re fourth, and into Turn 1 you’re ninth or something. You get eaten up pretty quick.
“I think the nice thing being towards the front is that you normally stay a bit more out of the chaos. Obviously the mid-pack gets a little crazy, so that should help our cause in getting a bit through the first few corners a bit cleaner.
“You still have to race pretty hard to not get eaten up. I’m experienced, hopefully I use my head tomorrow and we’ll be good.”
As for holding his own among the front-runners for the duration of the race, Ricciardo will give it his best shot.
“Part of me kind of says why not? Because yeah, as I said today was genuine pace, and all weekend it felt like if I’d put the lap together, it was like a top six car,” he said.
“By default, you kind of expect the top teams to have a little bit more race pace, whatever it is, maybe even tyre management. Part of me also says why not, why we can’t fight at the front tomorrow.”
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