Daniel Ricciardo believes he “definitely” could’ve finished higher than seventh in the Mexico Grand Prix without the red flag stoppage.

Having endured a tough return outing in the United States, Ricciardo excelled from the outset at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, winding up fourth in qualifying.

Although Lewis Hamilton soon overtook him on Lap 11, the Australian was comfortably sitting fifth when Kevin Magnussen’s hefty crash prompted a red flag on Lap 33.

Ricciardo, who could only opt for the Hard tyre on the restart, lost out to George Russell on Mediums at the second start before the recovering Lando Norris also passed him.

“I think everything was actually working pretty well,” he reflected. “Honestly the red flag I think hurt us. But I don’t want to say it too selfishly, because there was a big accident, I believe a car failure, so nothing Kevin could do. Yes, as much as that hurt our race, I would like to think because strategy and everything was looking pretty smooth; obviously the main thing is he’s OK.

“It obviously bunched everyone up and allowed some cars to use the Mediums, which we didn’t have. So yeah. I think at that point, it was probably a bit more nervous on [the] pit wall, but to still come out with seventh and six points, and nearly eight points, we got very close to George at the end, I think big picture, we have to be very happy.”

With Russell increasingly struggling in the latter laps, Ricciardo closed up and had a look into Turn 4 on the final tour, but his advances were rebuffed by the Briton.

However, Ricciardo asserts that even battling a Mercedes in his AlphaTauri usurped the frustration of marginally missing out on securing an extra points position.

“I was honestly trying as much as I could,” he said regarding the late tussle. “It was a little weird, at the start of the stint, I didn’t feel as good as towards the end. It felt like it took me a little bit to get a rhythm with the tyre.

“Then the last probably 10 laps, I was able to really start pushing harder, and yeah, I think Lando getting George probably hurt George’s tyres a little bit, so that brought him back to me.

“It was tough. I probably didn’t expect to get that close. When you’re that close, you’re like ah, we could’ve! But he protected well in Turn 4. At one point, I was trying to go on the outside, but I could see we were both going to run off and had to abort mission. He did well, he did well to defend.

“We tried, but yeah. I think ultimately, just to be battling a Mercedes at the end, that makes me more happy than just missing out on sixth.”

While he is unsure whether he could have held Norris at bay, Ricciardo is certain he would have bettered seventh if the race hadn’t been suspended midway through.

“I don’t know if Lando’s pace in that second half of the race was as good as the first half,” he assessed. “Yeah, we were let’s say holding Oscar [Piastri] at bay.

“We had gaps… it felt like at that moment, I was like, this could be a nice, lonely fifth place, and I was OK with that.

“I definitely think we could have been better than seventh, let’s say that, without the red. That’s racing. On one hand, you could say unlucky, but it can always be worse. The restart we could have had a crash or something, so to still come through, I’m happy.”

Ricciardo’s six-point haul followed up Yuki Tsunoda’s five points from Austin last weekend, elevating AlphaTauri into eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

“I think after last week, Yuki got five points and it was huge for the team, everyone was cartwheeling and backflipping,” he remarked. “A week later to do six points, I’m very happy.”

Daniel Ricciardo says he plans to get his “elbows out” on the opening lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix but admits he will not go “too crazy” from fourth place on the grid.

Having been sidelined since the end of August with a broken bone in his hand, Ricciardo encountered a “miserable” return outing in the United States last weekend.

However, the Australian was competitive throughout practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, leaving him confident on Friday that a top-10 start was possible.

After utilising a slipstream from team-mate Yuki Tsunoda to comfortably advance into Q3, Ricciardo then proceeded to secure his best qualifying result since Italy 2021.

“It’s just cool to be that far up the grid again. It’s been a while,” he beamed. “I’m going to guess it’s probably Monza or something last time in 2021, sometime in 2021 I was on the second row of the grid. It’s cool.

“There’s part of me which for the next hour wants to celebrate today, because it’s certainly a day that should be celebrated. I think the team as well, it’s not often they qualify this far up the grid, especially this year.

“But I don’t think the car we had this weekend is a P10 in the Constructors’ car. It’s definitely been a more competitive car.

“I’m just glad I got the most out of it. Next hour we’ll enjoy, but then definitely focus on tomorrow and try to turn this into a [haul of] points.”

Ricciardo was able to split the two Red Bulls, beating Sergio Perez to the second row.

The eight-time grand prix winner has openly discussed his main ambition is now to return to the Red Bull seat he vacated at the end of 2018, in place of the under-pressure Perez.

Asked about the significance of outqualifying the Mexican, Ricciardo said: “Look, it’s cool. I got asked, oh you’re ahead of Checo tomorrow, how does that feel? I mean, it feels cool, but I’m ahead of a lot of people.”

Last weekend, Ricciardo conceded that he was caught out by race rust at the start of both the Sprint encounter and Sunday’s grand prix on his comeback appearance.

Ricciardo has revealed that he intends to adopt a moderately aggressive approach on the long approach to Turn 1 on Sunday to avoid losing ground to the pack behind.

“Lap 1, get your elbows out but nothing too crazy, let’s say,” he said. “It’s one of those ones, you can be too conservative and you’re fourth, and into Turn 1 you’re ninth or something. You get eaten up pretty quick.

“I think the nice thing being towards the front is that you normally stay a bit more out of the chaos. Obviously the mid-pack gets a little crazy, so that should help our cause in getting a bit through the first few corners a bit cleaner.

“You still have to race pretty hard to not get eaten up. I’m experienced, hopefully I use my head tomorrow and we’ll be good.”

While Ricciardo is wary of the top teams having more pace in hand over the duration of a race stint, he retains optimism that AlphaTauri can fight at the sharp end.

Pressed on whether the AT04 will have the speed to remain in fourth, Ricciardo answered: “Part of me kind of says why not? Because yeah, as I said today was genuine pace, and all weekend it felt like if I’d put the lap together, it was like a top six car.

“By default, you kind of expect the top teams to have a little bit more race pace, whatever it is, maybe even tyre management. Part of me also says why not, why we can’t fight at the front tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo revelled in taking his and AlphaTauri’s best qualifying result of 2023 after scoring a standout fourth position in Mexico City.

Ricciardo was competitive throughout the three-stage session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and stunned by scoring fourth place.

While Ricciardo was assisted in Q1 and Q2 by penalised team-mate Yuki Tsunoda providing a slipstream, Ricciardo was more competitive through the second and third sectors, and managed without a tow in Q3.

“Already kind of before the weekend I was feeling a little bit hungry, let’s say? In a positive way, like a chip on my shoulder,” he said.

“And from Lap 1 yesterday, I felt good. Really all weekend I think we were a well inside the top 10 car. I think this morning, we were still there in P9. But obviously I was not happy with my lap this morning. I knew that we could show more than that.

“Q1, Q2, Yuki was great and gave us a tow just to make sure that we got into Q3. But then Q3, we didn’t have a tow and we still showed really good pace. Probably the coolest thing about today was it wasn’t ah OK, they did it but they gained a couple of tenths from a tow. We had raw pace.”

Ricciardo wound up only 0.216s away from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc.

“Obviously P4 is amazing,” he said. “But then when you look at pole, it was two-tenths, it’s not like Max [Verstappen] or someone was seven or eight-tenths down the road. So the gap is just as cool as the position, if you know what I mean.

“We’re really there, and who knows what it means for tomorrow? I don’t feel today is a fluke. I really feel like we had strong pace. I felt with a perfect lap, going through it in my head last night, I thought maybe today we could be P6, P7 if everything goes well. I definitely had confidence we weren’t just a P10 car. But P4 is pretty cool.”

Daniel Ricciardo has credited a discovery on the setup side of his AlphaTauri car for the promising pace he displayed throughout Friday at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Having been sidelined since the end of August with a broken bone in his left hand, Ricciardo returned to racing action last weekend at the United States Grand Prix.

However, the eight-time GP winner endured a troublesome Sunday in Austin, rueing race rust and damage that contributed to a “miserable” comeback appearance.

But Ricciardo propped up in the top 10 of the timesheets in both of Friday’s practice sessions in Mexico, following up eighth in FP1 with an encouraging sixth in FP2.

Ricciardo admits that he was chomping at the bit to return to the car, particularly having unearthed some potential changes following his disappointing outing last weekend.

“Yeah, it was very good. It was a good day,” Ricciardo reflected. “I got back to the hotel Sunday night, and I wished it was Friday in Mexico already. I was certainly pretty hungry to keep going after Austin.

“I think also some things that we kind of discovered after the race that made me want to get back on-track and prove that we do obviously have some pace.

“Today was fun. I do enjoy this place as well, it’s good, but I think the car was solid. We made good progress. I think a few little things with setup, it looks like we’re in a good place, but it is very close.

“We were I think P6 this afternoon, which is great. But also in front, it’s not too big a gap, but also behind, it’s close. Yeah. Just about putting it together tomorrow, but I think it was a really good day.”

Ricciardo’s return at the Circuit of the Americas was hindered by the interruption of the Sprint format only allocating the drivers one practice hour to optimise setups.

The Australian noted that the return to the conventional weekend configuration this weekend enabled him to trial more direction changes with the AT04 during Friday.

“I think coming from Austin, we already started with a different setup today,” he explained.

“I think there were things, if it wasn’t a Sprint weekend, we would have tried on the car, so we were obviously able to try that today and really from the get-go, I was certainly comfortable. Then we just chipped away at it. I think yeah, some setup things that we ultimately couldn’t try because of parc ferme last week. So that’s positive.

“I was just ready to go, I was ready to go from Sunday night, but even yesterday when we were at the track, It’s good, it’s good to drive today. I’m very hungry and motivated. It’s very good.”

Despite winding up only 0.316s off the leading pace at the end of FP2, the first 16 drivers were only covered by 0.956s in what was a tightly contested field on Friday.

But Ricciardo is optimistic that the positive handling he had on the AT04 can translate into a first Q3 appearance of the season come Saturday’s vital qualifying hour.

Asked how confident he is of maintaining his strong practice pace through the weekend, Ricciardo beamed: “I’m definitely confident. You never want to, I can’t stand here and predict where we’ll be tomorrow because who knows in quali and what other teams might do with fuel or engines.

“I know what I felt in the car today was good. I believe that is a top-10 car tomorrow. Top-six car would be nice, we’ll try to keep that going. But I’m not smiling because I’m looking ahead, it was a good day, and it gives me confidence for tomorrow.”

AlphaTauri had introduced several updates during Ricciardo’s recovery period, including a seismic Red Bull-inspired upgrade in Singapore and a revised floor in Qatar.

The 34-year-old asserts that he was able to instantly feel the performance improvements at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, most notably regarding stability at the rear.

Questioned whether he had now unlocked more of the potential from the recent developments, Ricciardo issued: “I think yeah, definitely I felt probably a little bit more today, getting back behind the wheel on a different track.

“Obviously it’s high downforce but low grip, but with a bit bigger wing, I could feel the car kind of squat a bit nicer in the second sector, in that kind of flip-flop section.

“I think we’re probably still not a top-10 car in the high speed, but I do feel like it’s a bit more connected under the rear, and that felt nice. To kind of have a good feeling car around here is nearly impossible because of the altitude, and even the fast cars don’t always feel that good here. Considering some strengths that I felt on a grip level like this, I think it’s positive.”

Ricciardo admits Friday represented the most comfortable he’s been with the AT04 to date, including the three weekends he drove the car prior to being ruled out with injury.

“Yeah, I would say… [laughs] To be honest, the lap before I crashed in Zandvoort, I was feeling pretty good,” he remarked.

“I know we made some changes for P2, and it was kind of a direction which we were looking at going, and that felt good — until it did. So yeah, that’s what we were able to pursue a little bit more today.

“I think it’s a position where I’m definitely more comfortable with this car and feel like I can attack it the way I like. Obviously I’m very complimentary and positive today, that’s fact. But we’ll still stay level-headed for tomorrow. It’s nice, nice to be driving and just ready to kick some arse.”

Daniel Ricciardo has asserted that he wants to be recognised as a “race car driver, not an entertainer” amid criticism from ex-Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve.

Having been axed by McLaren at the end of last season, Ricciardo was handed an F1 reprieve midway through this year when Nyck de Vries was axed by AlphaTauri.

However, Ricciardo’s comeback was curtailed only three weekends in by a broken hand injury sustained in a practice crash on Friday at Zandvoort at the end of August.

Ahead of Ricciardo making his return at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, 1997 F1 champion Villeneuve attacked the Australian’s outgoing personality.

“I would ask kids who want to be drivers today – do you want it out of passion or because you want to be like Daniel Ricciardo, smiling in commercials?” the Canadian told Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ricciardo doesn’t believe his marketing value outside of the car has undermined his perceived driving ability, but the eight-time grand prix winner has clarified that his time away refocused his mindset towards racing.

Asked if he thinks his bubbly persona has clouded the narrative surrounding his driving, particularly during his rough spell at McLaren, Ricciardo answered: I would say, in short, no. I think, look, we’ve all certainly… all of our profiles have grown, in the last few years, in particular, since Drive to Survive.

“So we’ve all kind of felt a bit of that. I think just me with my personality, and also just having some fun with the sport. Yeah, that probably got a little bigger as well, because of that. It draws a few LOLs every now and then, but I think generally, first and foremost, I certainly see myself as a race car driver, not an entertainer or anything like that.

“It is funny sometimes, people come up to me like: ‘you were great in that season’ and I’m [like] ‘racing season – or Drive to Survive season?’ So yeah, for sure, to some, we’re maybe not all viewed as race car drivers. But yeah, it’s just it’s part of it.

“But I think we’re all also, as I said, building profiles and a bit of a brand, but it’s not anything that’s taken away from the racing side of it. And that’s first and foremost.

“And I think that’s, for sure, through all of this, it can maybe get away from you a little bit of time so me coming back into it this year and having a little bit of that time off, it certainly made me kind of just figure out what I’m about, I guess, moving forward and how I want to go racing.

“Probably just removing a few things and kind of going back to a little bit of the basics. And yeah, just making sure that I am seen as a as a race car driver who’s still hungry and determined and not someone who’s just here for a good time.”

Ricciardo’s first outing in nearly two months was hindered by picking up damage midway through, contributing to a “miserable” race on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas.

The ex-Renault racer has previously admitted that his desire is to return to the Red Bull seat that he vacated at the end of 2018.

AlphaTauri have already confirmed that Ricciardo will remain alongside Yuki Tsunoda with the Faenza-based side next season.

Daniel Ricciardo asserts his recovering broken hand was “no excuse” for a “miserable” Formula 1 return also stymied by car damage in the United States Grand Prix.

Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri in July, was embarking upon the third outing of his comeback when a practice crash at Zandvoort witnessed him sustain a break to the metacarpal in his left hand.

The Australian had been sidelined since that incident at the end of August but finally marked his return to the AT04 cockpit at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend.

Despite an encouraging Sprint Saturday, Ricciardo dropped back from his 15th-place grid berth on Sunday, trailing home last of the classified runners in 17th position.

Ricciardo, who gained two spots through Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s subsequent disqualifications, claims that he encountered no complications with his hand.

“Physically, it’s pretty good,” he said on Sunday. “I actually felt probably worse [after Saturday’s Sprint race]. I say worse. Obviously still okay, but I felt like I got out of the car probably sweating more. So maybe that was just a good little warm-up for me.

“I think there’s positives of the hand is no excuse. I think that was good. I think we did well with the timing of the return to kind of have no hesitations or excuses.

“Physically, it’s definitely a tougher race and I still felt okay, we were just limited with damage.”

Ricciardo’s attempts to make progress beyond his opening pitstop were hindered by running over debris that damaged his brake duct, which the team said resulted “in a significant loss of aero load and balance”.

AlphaTauri admitted that Ricciardo’s second pit stop later in the race was made with the intention to resolve the issue in case of a late Safety Car, one that would not materialise.

Reviewing the events that ultimately unravelled his race prospects, Ricciardo explained: “We lost a lot of pace very quickly. I told the team ‘sorry guys, I’ve got nothing right now, I really can’t do anything’.

“Then they said ‘it looks like we’ve lost something’, and they came back and said ‘yeah, there’s damage to somewhere on the front of the car’.

“I guess it was debris because they mentioned Stroll. I think we got close but I don’t think we touched. We must have picked up some debris somewhere and that made our race a pretty miserable one, I won’t lie.

“We’re at best a top 10 car, and when you put damage into it we are certainly out of the points.”

With team-mate Yuki Tsunoda managing to end up 8th alongside scoring the bonus point for the fastest race lap, Ricciardo also lamented the timing of his opening pit stop.

“Most of our day today was misfortune,” he rued. “But for sure there is still some things to work on, for the team’s side but also for me.”

“Even in the first stint, I think the timing of the stop wasn’t great, but I don’t know, I’ll always hold myself accountable and be like ‘okay, could I have read that a little bit better, should I have tried to be more proactive?’

“I definitely did make it aware that I was going to probably lose time in traffic. I’ll always be a little bit critical of myself.

“For sure some things that we can do better, so I’m glad we don’t have too much of a break and I think also for my race fitness, just to keep smashing it out now I think is good. Today was a long one but I think we’ll quickly learn from this.”

Austin commenced a run of three successive race weekends, with trips to Mexico and Brazil next up before a doubleheader in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi rounds out the year.

Ricciardo insists that there are plenty of positives to take from the US GP weekend, leaving him optimistic that he can string together an improved race run this weekend.

He added: “At times, we lacked communication but I think especially once I got the damage, nothing really felt that constructive to give back because we’re working with a suboptimal car.

“For sure, there’s things which I take confidence from: some race fitness, the hand, a few things, which even just getting behind the wheel in FP1 like lap one, I felt like I was able to push and lean on it.

“There’s certainly some inner confidence in that. But I would say in race conditions, next week I’ll do better.”

There is still room for improvement for Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian has been left with ‘”plenty to dissect” on his racing return in Saturday’s Formula 1 Sprint at Circuit of the Americas.

Ricciardo has returned to duties behind the wheel of the AlphaTauri after being sidelined due to a hand injury sustained during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.

Qualifying 11th for his first race back, Ricciardo started the Sprint P10 following a grid drop for George Russell.

The 34-year-old would have to settle for 12th in the 19-lap race having lost two positions in the opening corner.

“There were some pros and cons. The pros were just being back out there, that put a smile on my face,” said Ricciardo in review of his Saturday in Austin.

“Sitting on the grid, seeing the lights go out – it’s a cool feeling. That little adrenaline spike, all those things it’s good to be part of again. So, overall I enjoyed it”. Ricciardo last took a race start in the Belgian Grand Prix prior to F1’s summer break.

“The cons, obviously I’m very experienced. But this year, I’m not very experienced,” he continued. Ricciardo began the season as Red Bull’s third driver, but found himself promoted to a race seat with AlphaTauri in Hungary following the dismissal of Nyck de Vries.

“Just some line choices and things at the start. The inside got bottled up and I think two guys went around my outside. Little things like that.

“I can’t expect too much with the little I’ve done this year but yeah, little things like that it feels like deep down I should know better. It’s a good warmup race for tomorrow and plenty to dissect tonight.

“Some things I was still figuring out in the race and improved, some corners I was struggling. So, some things to look at from competitors and a little bit of setup to find some small adjustments.”

With a ‘little bit of a test race’ under his belt, the Australian is looking to build on a decent Saturday and help his team pick up points in Sunday’s grand prix.

“[I’m] confident that we can build on that tomorrow. It’s hot, tyres I guess it’s a two stop race with where it’s going. 

“There’s a bit of tyre difference [with remaining sets], so hopefully it’s a fun race. I felt like I was in battles most of the [Sprint], I don’t know how it was through the field but I think with this high deg and high temperatures, it should create some offsets and good racing. 

“It was encouraging that we had some pace at the end, so let’s see how it goes tomorrow.”

Ricciardo will start 15th for this afternoon’s United States Grand Prix which gets underway at 14:00 local time.

Daniel Ricciardo believes there is still more work to be done after qualifying 15th on his Formula 1 return at the United States Grand Prix.

The Australian has endured a five-race absence after injuring his left hand in Zandvoort. Ricciardo sustained seven fractures, requiring eight screws to repair the damage.

The Sprint format limited Ricciardo’s re-acclimatisation, with only one hour of practice behind the wheel of the AlphaTauri AT04 he has piloted on only three weekends this season.

Ricciardo saw his final Q2 attempt deleted after exceeding track limits, but the lap wouldn’t have been good enough to improve on his P15 starting spot.

“That lap was not any better, so that was a little bit of just hold it and see what happens because it was already feeling a bit poor,” Ricciardo told F1TV after the session.

“We were kind of fighting from the start a little bit. It’s hard obviously with one session [of practice], you kind of have to set up the car and it is what it is for quali.

“There’s a few things for sure I would have liked to get out of the car but it’s hard to really know how much we can do in an hour and then go straight into quali.

“Of course, I’d love more, I feel I could do more. But we got another chance tomorrow so we will try and learn from tonight.

On returning to the cockpit for the first time since late August, the AlphaTauri driver said that the real limitations stemmed from the truncated practice running.

“There was nothing else holding me back today. Just trying to find a little bit of that feeling in the car and the set-up,” he added.

“As the track ramped up, we plateaued a bit and there’s a few things with setup… As always you could do a little bit more. [You think] maybe we could have gone in this direction, but we will see what we can discover tonight.

“I wish I wasn’t in 15th, but it’s still nice to be back behind the wheel and result aside, it’s been an enjoyable day.”

“There could be. I think that’s where it’s also hard with this format. You can’t do anything overnight and have to just wait for the wind to change and hope that your car feels different tomorrow.

“There’s things I can keep improving and a bit to still work on with the car setup.”

Ricciardo was outqualified by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda by three-tenths of a second on Friday.

While Tsunoda was left frustrated qualifying 11th after missing Q3 by 0.018s, the Japanese racer is confident that points are on the cards in the main race.

“To be honest, it’s always like this. It’s kind of jinxed this year, but to be honest, I’ve gotten used to it,” he bemoaned.

“Frustrating, but at the same time the teams in front of me have both their cars in the top 10, so I feel like we extracted the performance our car had today. 

“P11 isn’t a bad position to start in on Sunday because it’s close to the points, so I’m looking forward to it. Our race pace this morning during FP1 didn’t look bad, so the potential is there for tomorrow and Sunday.”

Daniel Ricciardo admitted that the recovery period from his injury was “tougher” than he originally thought it would be ahead of his return at the United States Grand Prix.

Ricciardo broke his left hand during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on just the third weekend of his Formula 1 comeback, having replaced Nyck De Vries at AlphaTauri.

The Australian had competed in Hungary and Belgium before a crash at Zandvoort put a stop to his acclimatisation with the AT04, causing him to miss the rest of the Dutch GP weekend and the subsequent four rounds, with New Zealander Liam Lawson acting as stand-in.

Now, Ricciardo states the “hand is good,” but he just wants “to get back to it now” after a lengthy and, tougher than expected rehab.

“Well, I would say, tougher than I thought,” Ricciardo remarked when probed on the subject.

“But I’m probably a bit of a wuss as well. So maybe not tougher than I thought!

“I think it was really just when the accident happened, and we were aware of what bone broke, they seemed fairly OK with that bone, in terms of ‘oh yeah, it’s a relatively easy one’, to let’s say, fix.

“But then, yeah, when we got the surgery done in Spain, we got further checks done and it was just the break was a lot worse than it first seemed.

“So I think that’s what took a lot longer for the recovery, and probably made it a little more painful for myself.”

In the interim period, AlphaTauri has made revisions to its AT04 design, with the car undoubtedly being different to the one Riccairdo last drove back in late August.

So not only does Ricciardo have to relearn the car when he gets back behind the wheel, but he admits he is still getting to grips with the rigours of being back in F1 full-time.

“So, I went out to Singapore where they had some pretty big updates,” he added. “And that was actually a pretty positive weekend for the team.

“So that looked good. And the drivers were saying that they could feel some good differences.

“So yeah, I’m expecting a car that is a little stronger than where I left it.

“But I mean, it’s going to be the third race I’ve done this year, so I’m still very green for this season.

“But in saying that, I’m not using that as an excuse, but yeah, everything kind of still feels new to me.”

Ricciardo reclaims the race seat from Lawson, who impressed during his stint as the Australian’s understudy.

Lawson was particularly impressive in Singapore, where he finished a fine ninth in his first race at the gruelling Marina Bay Circuit.

Riccardo has beaten Lawson to a full-time seat at AlphaTauri for 2024 and the Australian gave a short response when meriting the New Zealander’s progress in his short stint with the team.

“Yes. One does,” Ricciardo said when asked if he thought Lawson had done well in his place. “He did a very good job.”

Daniel Ricciardo is eager for his return from injury at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after admitting it was “frustrating” watching from the sidelines.

Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri only 10 races into the year, has been absent from the previous five rounds since breaking his left hand in a practice crash at Zandvoort at the end of August.

The Australian underwent a run in the simulator ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix but elected to delay his comeback by one race weekend to allow his injury to heal further.

However, Ricciardo is raring to get back behind the wheel of the AT04 at the Circuit of the Americas, which will commence a run of three consecutive F1 race weekends.

“It’s good to be back! My hand is much better, and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it,” Ricciardo said in AlphaTauri’s Austin preview.

“I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was at full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, and got to a point where I felt ready to go.

“My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while.

“It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races, especially as I’d gotten myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit ‘Pause’ again, but actually, the time without racing went quite quickly.”

AlphaTauri have introduced several updates since Ricciardo’s last appearance – including a sizeable Red Bull-inspired upgrade in Singapore last month.

Ricciardo, though, reveals that he has remained in the loop through technical debriefs and extensive simulator sessions.

“The current car has moved on a bit since I last drove it, but the sim was useful to get an idea of what the changes and updates have delivered,” he explained.

“I felt a little bit of their effect, but it’s one of those things I think, once I get on track, I’ll feel them to their full effect.

“I was there in Singapore when they tried it the first time, and it was interesting to hear the feedback and comments, which were mostly positive. So, I’m excited to see what it’s like first-hand.

“As for this weekend, I’ve always enjoyed Austin. It’s very unique for a modern-day circuit, and the undulations and bumps mean it’s physical. It does beat you up, but I think I like that.

“I like the challenge. A lot of the apexes are quite wide as well, so there are some peculiar corners which make the track exceptional and stand out.”