“Tost had ‘no doubt’ about Ricciardo’s comeback.”

It was a Daniel Ricciardo of great days who drove all weekend in Mexico. The 34-year-old driver had a very solid weekend, both in qualifying and in the race. In the previous GP, in Austin, he had finished last upon his return to competition after a fracture in his left hand. Ricciardo then declared that he had no excuse for his performance. He was determined to redeem himself, and this resulted in a significant 7th place finish in Sunday’s race in Mexico. “It was a positive surprise,” said Franz Tost in an interview with AutoSport. “I expected him to be among the top six. But to be in fourth position was really good. He had a very good performance in qualifying as well as in the race, especially at the beginning, when he was able to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him (…). He had a very, very good race to finish 7th.”

Thanks to this productive weekend, Ricciardo left with six points in the championship, allowing AlphaTauri to surpass Haas in the constructor standings.

Performances that were praised by an extension.

Originally, Daniel Ricciardo celebrated his return as a leading driver in Budapest. Nick de Vries had been removed from AlphaTauri due to deemed insufficient performances. The Australian then signed for six months to at least secure the Italian team’s season’s end. After promising performances in races and his contribution of experience in car development, Ricciardo was ultimately extended for an additional year, even before recovering from injury.

« I had no doubt because he is experienced and he couldn’t have lost the ability to drive an F1 car fast,” stated the AlphaTauri team principal. « Once you know that, you don’t lose it. And what he may have lacked in the past is confidence in the car, confidence in the team. Therefore, he couldn’t perform at the level we know he is normally capable of.

An important role for 2024.

The extension of Ricciardo’s contract until 2024 is seen very positively at AlphaTauri. The experience brought by the former McLaren driver is highly appreciated in the garage. It is very important because the team needs an experienced driver, explained Franz Tost to AutoSport. Daniel is the absolute right choice. I told him, “it’s good now because now you’re in race mode.” We are now looking forward to Sao Paulo.

In addition to the performance of their 34-year-old driver, Franz Tost highlights the progress of the entire team. The cars have obtained improvements that seem to have worked in the last two races. « I expected the team to eventually score points because we weren’t as bad as it seemed », stated the director. « And I must also say that the engineers, especially on the aerodynamic side, have made great progress, the updates they have made to the car have worked (…). Seventh place could be possible as we are 12 points behind. We have just scored 11 points in two races. We still have three Grand Prix races to go. If we put everything in place, maybe we will get closer, maybe we can beat them. Of course, that’s the goal. »