MELBOURNE, Australia — Daniel Ricciardo has hailed McLaren’s double points finish at the Australian Grand Prix a “mega result” and says he will now “rehydrate with a couple of beers” before leaving Melbourne.
The home favourite finished sixth at Albert Park, one place behind teammate Lando Norris.
It’s the first time since last year’s Russian Grand Prix both McLaren drivers have finished in the top seven, and it comes after a pair of disappointing outings for the team in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which netted just six championship points.
“After Bahrain I was still very positive and I knew we could make a turnaround. Didn’t think it would happen already,” Ricciardo said after the race, which was won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. “For that reason, I’ll definitely take it. As a whole, it was certainly better. Team result was mega compared to the last few.
“It’s just been smoother for all of us and we’ve shown a lot more for it. Parts of the race were certainly more competitive; the beginning I felt strong on the medium [and] I thought we had something for Mercedes early on, but then they were able to remind us that they are still a bit quicker.”
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl was equally complimentary of the team, saying the mix of upgrades brought to Melbourne, circuit layout and learnings from the last race in Jeddah culminated in a strong weekend for the team.
“Very happy with the result today. It’s a good step forward again,” said Seidl. “Very happy with Lando and Daniel. In the end, you need two strong drivers who pull it off when it matters. They’ve shown again this weekend the class they are. A result like today is great motivation for everyone in the team.”
One of the major discussion points around the race weekend in Melbourne was the track modifications which had been made to make the circuit “more racer friendly,” according to Ricciardo, who was involved in the preliminary discussions. Historically, races in Melbourne have been rather uneventful, with little shuffling of positions after the opening laps.
The Albert Park circuit was resurfaced and shortened by 28 metres, with seven corners modified and two turns removed completely. The most notable alterations were at Turn 1, which is now 2.5m wider than in previous years, and Turns 6 and 11, which were also widened to allow faster speeds through the back section of the lap.
However, this year’s race turned out to be relatively similar to those in the past, with little wheel-to-wheel racing and relatively few overtakes.
“The second half of my race was pretty lonely and it felt pretty similar to previous years,” said Ricciardo. “Obviously with it being a street track there’s only so much that can be changed an altered, so you’re trying to do the best with what you’ve got.”
The race was initially slated to feature four DRS zones, the most since Formula One introduced the adjustable rear wing in 2011. However, it’s believed several drivers, including Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen, raised concerns over the zone between Turn 8 and 9, suggesting the high-speed left-hand kink at the end could prove dangerous. Several cars had also experienced porpoising at this section of the track.
“We would have had probably a few overtakes into Turn 9 with DRS there,” said Ricciardo. “I saw one lap when Lando was behind Kevin, not long after the restart, and he got pretty close into Turn 9. I think with DRS he would have got him. Maybe it’s as simple as adding that fourth zone and it kind of turns it back on again.”