The Australian driver preferred to look at the glass as half full: he underlined the difficulties encountered in Austria and, therefore, celebrated the fact that McLaren scored with both drivers in Spielberg
After disappointing once again and seeing Alpine slip back into the World Constructors' Championship table, McLaren needs to look on the bright side of the results achieved in last Sunday's Austrian GP. At least, that's what Daniel Ricciardo indicated.
Ninth place in the race in Spielberg, the Australian driver celebrated the double score of the Woking team at the Red Bull Ring - Lando Norris was seventh. Furthermore, Ricciardo pointed out that, given the difficulties encountered in Austria, McLaren had successfully completed a "damage control" strategy.
"Obviously, the goal was to be in the points. As a team, we are happy with that. It was much better than on Friday, so to have both drivers in the points zone is good for us," Ricciardo said, before punctuating the problems he faced in his MCL36 in the race.
"I had difficulties with the front left tire in the first stint, because I braked them in turn one, and that put us at a disadvantage. So, it wasn't as good as in the sprint. Then we had to deal more with the front, particularly in the left tire area - even with the swap - but I think we did well to get what we got," he added.
"I would have loved to have caught up with (Kevin) Magnussen, but we have to take what we can. More points, damage control: we are happy with that," the Australian driver finished.
Ricciardo, Norris and McLaren are now strictly tied with Alpine in the Constructors' World Championship: 81 points for each team, tied at fourth position in the table.
The Woking squad will have one more chance to recalculate their route and recover in F1 2022 before the vacations, as the category returns to action two weeks from July 22-24 at the French Grand Prix in Paul Ricard.