Daniel Ricciardo he compared one of his repetitions on Hungarian Grand Prix for the NFL player who makes the play.
In his first race since last year’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand PrixRicciardo was hit from behind by the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu, who crashed into the field after a dangerous escape from fifth on the grid.
The contact pushed Ricciardo into the Alpine about Esteban Oconwhich then crashed into Pierre Gasly’s team car, putting them all out of the race, and Ricciardo to the tail of the field.
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At a track known as one of the toughest to continue on the calendar, Ricciardo remained at the back of the field for the first major part of the race.
But from there, it was a surprising call from the cockpit that helped him to a final finish that saw him climb back up to 13th at the checkered flag.
Luckily, he finished two spots ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
“It was a welcome return,” Ricciardo said after the race. “It was like your first NFL game, somebody’s going to have to bully you to get you.
“Obviously it was disappointing to be out of position from the start. As soon as I hit I knew I was going to the tail.
“I was immediately disappointed, but my next thought was please don’t have a crash. I have to do this race, I have to learn this car, and for me I only learn and do the distance.”
Ricciardo said the damage to his AlphaTauri AT04 was “really minor” and made little difference to the car’s performance.
“After that, we made a good race. I knew it was impossible to get back to the points but we still had a strong show,” he said.
“I felt good in the car, and it was something that was obvious that I haven’t done for eight months, especially here. It’s a difficult track.
“Apart from lap one, turn around, it was a good day.”
Ricciardo’s first stop came on lap 18, when he switched from medium to hard tyres. He then remounted on lap 29 for a second set of speakers. He then made it to an incredible 40 speakers to come home 13.
“I knew in the dark, even with the new cars, the area is difficult to follow,” he said.
He cried early in the morning, and as soon as he got out, I heard the tire working again and I thought, ‘Let’s see what we can do outside in the fresh air.’
“We had an argument early on. I think we got back in the cars and that’s when I said, ‘Whatever we’re going to do, let’s think about giving me a breather’.
“Because it’s very difficult for us to pass and we’ve been a little bit down at the top speed, I’m just trying to do the winning way.”
In eight of the ten races this season, Tsunoda was faster than Nyck de Vries in qualifying and the race. It was the first time this season that he was behind both teammates.
The F1 circus resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix this week, before the sport enters the official arena during the European summer break.
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