Daniel Ricciardo explains what helped him beat Sergio Perez in the 2023 F1 Mexican GP qualifying
Daniel Ricciardo had a surprisingly brilliant qualifying session at the 2023 F1 Mexican GP. Even though the AlphaTauri is at the back of the grid in terms of performance, the Honey Badger was able to clock in stunning laps during qualifying sessions and somehow secure fourth place on the grid for the main race.
More importantly, he narrowly beat Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and was even close to beating reigning world champion Max Verstappen. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Ricciardo explained how he rediscovered the long-lost confidence corner entry and was able to lean on the car much more than he could in McLaren or even Renault. He said:
“Definitely it’s corner entry. As drivers, we’ll complain about a lot of things, we want traction, we want this, we want that. But if you can have that confidence in the corner entry, that’s where it all starts. If you get the entry right, it helps the mid-corner, helps the exit.”
Daniel Ricciardo's confidence started increasing gradually after the first time he drove AlphaTauri's car at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, which he knew he should build on and increase. He also mentioned how the feeling of the car was never the same with McLaren and said that he is more suited to AlphaTauri's car.
“That kind of confidence I’ve had turning the car into the corner has been really important. Even when I first drove it in Budapest, it wasn’t the fastest car, but it gave me a feeling, which was something I knew I could start to build on and start to drive to my strengths, and feel a little bit like my old self," Ricciardo said.
“That was something with the McLaren that didn’t suit me. And I couldn’t quite understand or get my head around it. It’s nice to now be able to set the car up a bit more to my liking. And hopefully, this is the start of a consistently faster AlphaTauri," he added.
Daniel Ricciardo felt his old self returning after the 2023 F1 Mexican GP qualifying
Daniel Ricciardo surprised everyone at the 2023 F1 Mexican GP qualifying session by ending up in fourth position. When asked by Sportskeeda whether the old Ricciardo is back in business, he said:
“Yeah I think so, I felt it. To be honest even during in the week before arriving here, I was already, I was thinking of driving a lot more, in terms of just hanging out for it to be Friday and get back in the car. I felt like there was some things to show and also some things to try with the car, with the setup that I was confident could work and help me get a bit more out of the car."
This has been the best qualifying session for Daniel Ricciardo ever since he left McLaren.