If one were to look only at the world rankings, it would be difficult to understand how the fourth place achieved by Daniel Ricciardo during qualifying in Mexico City was as surprising as it was beautiful. Yet, taking a step back, in reality already on the eve of the weekend the AlphaTauri driver had shown a certain confidence, aware that the AT04 could well appear on a track where some specific characteristics of the single-seater stand out more than others.
Ricciardo arrived in Mexico after a two-sided weekend in Austin, complicated not only by the sprint format on the very weekend of his return following his hand injury, but also by the failure of one of the flow diverters that incorporate the brake ducts , which then remained stuck in the front suspension, compromising the aerodynamic flows that flow along the car and the relative balance.
However, the American appointment served to regain confidence with the single-seater, also keeping in mind that in the meantime the Faenza team had introduced several rather substantial packages, including the one in Singapore. Innovations that have given new life to the car also allowing steps forward to be taken to cure that instability at the rear that took away the drivers’ confidence, particularly in fast corners. It was above all Nyck De Vries who paid the price in the first part of the season, who had suffered even more than Tsunoda from this weak point of the AT04.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
Once in Mexico, the team immediately put into practice some set-up changes that, in reality, the Australian would have liked to try already in Austin, but the fact that it was a weekend with the sprint format had led to caution , placing the emphasis on the use of an already known set-up to regain contact with the track before the application of the Parc Fermé period.
“Coming from Austin we have already started with a different set-up. I think there were some things that, if it hadn’t been a sprint weekend [ad Austin], we would have tested on the car, so we could only test them here. From the start I definitely felt comfortable and then we made some steps forward, with some set-up adjustments that we weren’t able to try in the end due to the Parc Fermé last week. So it’s positive”, explained Ricciardo at the end of free practice, where AlphaTauri had already made a good impression, putting itself in line for a top ten position.
Among other things, knowing that Yuki Tsunoda would start from the back due to the replacement of the Power Unit following the failure during the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the Faenza team was also able to think about strategy, taking advantage of the Japanese to ensure a position in Q3 with the slipstream game in favor of Ricciardo. Often these plans go awry or fail to be implemented correctly, but in this case it worked perfectly. The strategy also contributed significantly to saving a set of tires for Q3, which undoubtedly helped. However, the Australian perhaps went beyond expectations, achieving a stunning fourth position on an afternoon in which we saw flashes of talent clouded by his time spent at McLaren.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
Precisely on the Mexican track last year he was the author of one of his best races of the season aboard the MCL36, thanks to a final stint on the soft all on the attack, even if he received a penalty for a contact with his current teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. Now the objective is to materialize that fourth place in a points finish which would mean a lot for the Italian team, especially in their bid for the constructors’ championship: at the moment AlphaTauri is in last place, but the Haas target is not that far away and a have a good day it could change the ranking.
Furthermore, although it will probably be a different story in the race, the Australian also managed to get behind Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull: “I mean, it’s nice. They asked me: ‘Tomorrow you are ahead of Checo. How does it feel? And I mean, it’s a good feeling. But I’m in front of a lot of people. It’s great to be so high up on the grid again. It’s been a while. I think it was from Monza or thereabouts, in 2021, that I was on the second row on the grid.”
“So yeah, it’s nice. I mean, there’s a part of me that I think for the next hour wants to celebrate today, because it’s certainly a day that should be celebrated. I think the team doesn’t often qualify that high either on the grid, especially this year. But I don’t think the car we had this weekend is a tenth-place car in the constructors’ standings. It was certainly a more competitive car and I’m happy to have made the most of it.”
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
AlphaTauri made a difference on a mechanical level, even in the slow areas of the stadium
Ricciardo was competitive from the start of the weekend in Mexico City, achieving eighth and sixth places in the two sessions on Friday, well above the team’s usual level this season. The rivals immediately agreed that the pace shown by the AT04 was genuine, also because Yuki Tsunoda himself, despite starting from behind, had sent out some interesting signals.
“Since the first lap yesterday [venerdì] I felt good. And all weekend I think we were a car well inside the top 10. This morning we were still there, in ninth position, but honestly I wasn’t happy with my lap in the third free practice session. I knew we could do more. You never know, in qualifying obviously everyone picks up the pace. But I was confident I could get a few more tenths out of the car.”
What was most satisfying was the margin compared to the top finishers. “Obviously fourth place is incredible. But then you look at pole, it’s two tenths. So it’s not that Max [Verstappen] or someone is seven/eight tenths away. Detachment is as important as location. We’re really there, and who knows what that means for tomorrow? But I don’t think it’s a coincidence today, I thought we had a good pace. With a perfect lap, I thought maybe we could be P6/P7 today if everything went well. But fourth place is a good thing.”
Where does this rhythm come from? Ricciardo insisted that even before the forced break due to injury he could see some potential in the package and had started to put a set-up more suited to his riding needs. After the first two races completed before the summer break, the Australian had had plenty of time to work behind the scenes with the team and fine-tune the first corrections which had already arrived at Zandvoort. However, the accident significantly complicated the process of adapting to the car in search of the confidence needed behind the wheel to perform well.
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
Confidence is the key word in this theme, because last year with McLaren he struggled especially when entering corners, given that the Australian has a style that sees him bring a lot of speed into the corners which does not go well with certain characteristics of the single-seaters of Woking. However, he is now regaining some of that confidence: “Definitely entering the corner. As drivers we complain about many things: we want more traction, we want this or that. But if you can have confidence entering the corner, that’s where it all starts. If you manage to enter in the right way, this helps the central part of the corner and the exit,” explained Ricciardo.
However, beyond Ricciardo’s specific elements, there are also other aspects that are playing a key role in Mexico. In general, the technicians at AlphaTauri had seen the Mexican event as one in which to aim for a good result, also because certain characteristics of the circuit play in favor of the car’s strengths. Looking back over the year, in various events the AT04 had demonstrated that it could perform well on those tracks where the traction phase and corner exit count, especially the more sharp ones, such as in Baku or Singapore. Although the team did not achieve what it had hoped for in Marina Bay due to an accident with Tsunoda, on the other side of the garage Lawson was able to collect a good ninth place which was worth two points for the classification.
Precisely with the new Singapore package, the overall aerodynamic load also increased, which helped especially in high-speed corners, which had instead put the single-seater in difficulty during the British GP weekend. To this, however, another key element was added: the Mexico City track has very smooth asphalt and this aspect allowed the car to be lowered, thus finding additional aerodynamic load. An important element for certain teams, such as Alfa Romeo, which here has rediscovered the competitiveness that it had lost last week in Austin, when it was forced to raise the car due to numerous bumps.
During the year it was therefore seen that, on certain tracks, the mechanical setting of the AT04 managed to make the difference and, on a track where it is crucial to be able to manage a compound as sensitive as the C5, these qualities have made the difference. Everyone struggled with grip, given the very dirty asphalt, but when you have a good car from a mechanical point of view, this helps from a temperature management point of view, as well as in terms of performance. Although the AlphaTauri does not have great aerodynamic efficiency on straights, so much so that it has a gap of 9 km/h compared to the Red Bull and 3 km/h compared to the Mercedes, which is clearly not a point of reference in any case on this particular aspect, the available package guarantees good aerodynamic load.
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Telemetry comparison Mexico Qualifying – Ricciardo Perez
Observing the telemetry data, in fact, it emerges that even in the fast sequence of the second sector the time lost was not so large, while excellent behavior was noted in the slow curves both in the chicane of curve 4-5-6-7 and in the final part of the lap, where many riders instead had to fight with overheating of the rear tires.
Managing to maintain fourth place in the race seems quite complex, but Ricciardo doesn’t want to rule it out. “Part of me says: why not? Because our pace is authentic. And all weekend I had the feeling that, if I put the lap together, we would have finished at least in the top six,” added the Australian , even if he is aware that he will need a good pace to not be sucked into the group. The lower top speeds do not play in favor in defense, although in Mexico it is not always easy to find overtaking.
One of the crucial aspects will be the start, because in Mexico, with such a narrow first chicane, some contact can often happen: “I think the beauty of being in front is that you are usually a little further away from the chaos, while in the middle group there is a bit of confusion. This should help us get through the first few corners more cleanly. However, you have to run at a good pace to avoid being sucked into the group. I have experience, I hope to use my head tomorrow, and it should go well.”
#AlphaTauri #Ricciardo #fourth #setup