Ricciardo hails Mexico City GP 'the weekend I dreamed of - and we got it'

Ricciardo enjoyed his best weekend in F1 since his win for McLaren in 2021, qualifying fourth for AlphaTauri.

The Australian ultimately slipped to seventh as he lost out to George Russell and Lando Norris following the red flag period.

Reflecting on the race, he said:  “Probably better than good. A lot of emotions. Relieved as well. Two starts on this track...you hold your breath because it's such a long run to Turn 1. Anything can happen into Turn 1.

"The first start we started fourth and came through in fourth, so I was pretty happy, especially when we know we have a bit more drag than others here. The second one. When I saw the red flag I knew it would probably hurt our race. 

“We were in fifth and potentially could have finished there but in that situation you can’t be too selfish as Kevin had a big crash. 

“Then we just tried to settle into a rhythm. Lando was much quicker. We battled for a couple of corners but I let Lando go. I thought if he could catch George it would bring him back to us. We got close.  

“Fighting a Mercedes at the end I think is a big weekend for us and six points, really can’t be sad.”

It was a crucial result for AlphaTauri, who have now moved ahead of Alfa Romeo and Haas in the constructors’ championship.

“There were definitely moments where at the beginning when I was fourth if the race finishes now and I will be happy, then I was fifth and I was like that would be alright. It felt like it took me a little bit to get into the rhythm with the tyre,” he added. “I felt I was better when the tyre was a bit more used and taking a bit more understanding with the car. 

“Once I saw Lando got past George I was really trying to do everything I could do to put pressure on him and at that point we pulled away from Oscar.

"All in all it’s a good weekend. After last week this is really the weekend I dreamed of and we got it.”