Daniel Ricciardo believes his ninth place finish was “damage limitation”, and that scoring points in the Austrian Grand Prix was a big positive.
The result was just his third points-paying finish in a grand prix all year, following top-10s at Australia and Azerbaijan.
Early in the race, Ricciardo suffered a lack of grip thanks to a flat-spot inflicted on his Pirellis in a lock-up into turn one on the opening lap.
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Despite this, he made up spots on the opening lap, before slowly fading.
Although he finished up three places on his starting position, two of those were as a result of retirements to Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. Valtteri Bottas was the only driver to have finished the race behind the Aussie having started in front of him.
Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris was one of many drivers to have copped a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, which he managed to serve in his pitstop and still come out in front of Ricciardo.
The young Brit was often circulating as much as half a second quicker than Ricciardo.
“There was a very big flat spot on my first set and I just struggled a lot through all the right hand corners,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports in the media pen.
“That was a shame because I think we had good track position. I think I made one or two spots on the first lap, but then we didn’t have the pace.
“Even on newer tyres … it was a little bit better, but it still wasn’t everything I hoped for.”
Despite the Red Bull Ring proving a strong track for McLaren the past two years, Ricciardo said the regulation change meant previous form was worth nothing.
He said the team “didn’t really look quick” from Friday morning.
“For both of us to get in the points, we’ve come out of it with a little bit of damage limitation.
“Hopefully this was a weak track for us. And in that case I think we did a decent job of it today.”
Despite the points, Ricciardo still sits 12th in the standings with 17 points. A double-points finish for Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso has seen Alpine draw level with McLaren in the constructors championship with 81pts each.
The Formula 1 circus will enjoy a week off, before another double header stating at the Paul Ricard circuit in France on July 24, and then Hungary on July 31.
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