F1 News: Daniel Ricciardo Over The Moon For Spa

Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on his AlphaTauri debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

The Australian driver was brought in as an immediate replacement for Nyck de Vries who lost his seat with the Italian team after just ten races of his rookie season.

Ricciardo had just over a week to prepare for the Hungarian Grand Prix where he out-qualified his teammate Yuki Tsunoda and was in with a chance of picking up some points if he hadn't had to start from the back of the pack after being caught up by a Turn 1 incident with Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, and Zhou Guanyu.

Speaking about the race, Ricciardo explained to AlphaTauri media:

“My whole weekend in Budapest was really good, making me feel all the things I missed, like the adrenaline and being on the starting grid, those emotions are really powerful.

"I felt our pace wasn’t bad and there was maybe even a chance of points if I hadn’t had to start again from the back after being hit on the first lap. It was good the car wasn’t damaged, so I was able to do the 70 laps and I felt physically fine at the end of it.

"There were a lot of things to be happy about. I made a few little mistakes in the race, but by the last stint I was really consistent and I don’t think I could have asked for anything more from my first weekend back.

“I’m happy to have a back-to-back and go to Spa now. I think it was a solid start and it will be good to jump straight back in the car after just a couple of days, as it will keep the ball rolling. It should fast-track my learning and my improvement. That’s the plan, to keep chipping away at it."

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