Alonso doesn’t see Ricciardo getting involved in the title fight

Daniel Ricciardo managed to secure his third victory of the year this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps during the 12th round of the season, which puts him just one win away from the total of the championship leader, Nico Rosberg.

With this success, the Red Bull driver has thus strengthened his third place in the drivers’ championship and even managed to slightly reduce the gap on the German driver. But according to Fernando Alonso, the road remains long for a possible opportunity to join the fight for the title. Asked if the Australian driver was a contender for the crown, Alonso replied in the negative, as quoted by Autosport: « No, I don’t think so. Of course, he’s doing an incredible job and is surprising everyone, but the advantage of Mercedes […] in qualifying, they are two full seconds ahead. When they finish the races, they will continue to increase their lead. »

The double world champion did not fail, however, to acknowledge the recent strong performances of the Perth native: « But if any of the other drivers can do it, at the moment, it’s only Ricciardo. »

If Alonso thinks that the number 3 will struggle against the two Mercedes drivers, the main party involved is a bit more confident and believes that as long as it remains mathematically possible, one must keep hope. But the Red Bull driver knows that he will face many challenges in the upcoming races.

« I see beautiful things happening if we can score the maximum points here [at Spa]. This gives us more hope for circuits that will come later in the season, Singapore, Suzuka, to name a few. It’s really nice – we are fully motivated at the moment, and it has been a good day for us on a circuit where we didn’t expect to score many points, » explained Ricciardo, quoted by Autosport.

I haven’t stopped smiling for a while now, but I keep my feet on the ground. Monza, I know it will be complicated again, but the package brought here was quite bold, so we will try to get something out of it for Monza, Singapore, and Suzuka to be competitive there.

With still 7 races to go – and a maximum of 200 points available, as a reminder, there will be 50 points up for grabs in the season’s final round in Abu Dhabi – and a deficit of “only” 64 points behind the leader, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo is clearly still in the running for the title for now; he is well aware of this and will continue to give his best.

Interviewed about whether he felt he had a chance to fight for the title, he stated: “If I’m within 50 points when arriving in Abu Dhabi, then yes. There are still a few races to go. Clearly, as long as it’s mathematically possible, we will continue to fight. Arriving and scoring big points where we weren’t expected to is gratifying. What’s important now is to capitalize on the circuits where we can be strong – if we take the maximum points on some of them, it won’t be over.”