Daniel Ricciardo concern raised by rival after what Alex Albon saw at Mexico GP

30 October 2023 , 18:32

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Daniel Ricciardo was one of the stand-out performers in Mexico (Image: Getty Images)

Alex Albon is concerned over the pace Daniel Ricciardo showed as he starred at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Aussie finished the race seventh to secure his first points finish since returning to the grid this year. And that was the day after he had qualified fourth on the grid in his AlphaTauri.

That AT04 has generally been the slowest on the grid this season and the team has been rock bottom of the constructors' standings for most of the year. But Ricciardo's results Mexico were more evidence of the progress AlphaTauri have made.

That result lifted the team off the foot of the table and up to joint-eighth, level with Alfa Romeo. And they will be eyeing Williams who sit just 12 point above them, mostly thanks to Albon's impressive performances this year.

The British-Thai racer has scored all but one of Williams' 28 points accrued so far this year and was ninth in Mexico. Despite that being another good result on paper, he admitted afterwards that it was worrying to see Ricciardo show the speed that he did.

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"Daniel's pace is something to be a bit worried about," said Albon. "They had a double points finish today, or they should have had. They only need another finish like that [to catch Williams]. We still need to keep our heads down and try to finish high up."

Without the mid-race red flag, Ricciardo feels he could have finished even higher. "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 [Magnussen] could do," said the Aussie.

"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 okay. 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 [Russell] at the end – I think big picture, we have to be very happy."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was keeping a close eye on Ricciardo's performance and said of the 34-year-old: "You couldn't fail to be impressed by Daniel this weekend... He's had a rough time over the last couple of months having to sit on the sidelines, but that's the Daniel we're used to seeing."

Daniel Moxon