Daniel Ricciardo qualified ninth at the Hungarian Grand Prix and has said he considers the next two events “the most important of my career”.
Ricciardo came into this round in an unusually predicament, as his results could see him promoted to Red Bull or he could lose his seat at RB altogether in 2025.
The Australian driver appears to excel under pressure, having set some strong times in practice at the Hungaroring and earned himself a morale-boosting place in Q3.
With rain looming, Ricciardo was in the Q1 drop zone and there was an anxious wait, but he produced a superb lap to top the opening stage.
However, his efforts in the final segment were wasted as Ricciardo started the first lap on new soft tyres after his RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda crashed at Turn 5.
Ricciardo believes a more optimal driving plan for the pole position shootout would have at least enabled him to overtake Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in eighth place.
“Yeah, I think it’s a decent result,” Ricciardo said, feeling that Aston could have certainly done something if the red flag hadn’t come out in Q3.
“Obviously, things are going well on the new tyres.
“I don’t know if we could have got Fernando (Alonso) but I’m sure we could have been in the fight for the win, so maybe we could have moved up two or three places on the grid.”
“But it was a smooth weekend. It was good. It was fast.”
“I wasn’t too happy in FP1, but after that I felt competitive and confident. The team was good too. It was really good to do that.”
“And even in Q1, we were in the knockouts and I thought: ‘Well, there’s one more lap to go…’ And even with the drizzle I thought: ‘Is the track OK?’
“We ran some good laps there and obviously the whole team was excited. It was a solid run.”
“Considering the situation and what has happened, I still feel like I have a little bit of a chance, so I think this is a good thing to keep me positive going into tomorrow’s race.
“We are not trying to hold on to these points but to try and gain more.”
Ricciardo knew his final attempt on worn tyres wouldn’t have a great result, but he thought it was worth it to overtake Tsunoda and make up the position.
“I do spend a lot of time on used stuff, and this car was like semi-used,” he explained.
“But obviously there was a car behind me trying to overtake and I was trying to create a good enough gap to Oscar (Piastri) so… I knew that lap wasn’t going to be great.
“But we tried to get at least one more position on the grid, so at least we achieved that.”
“I don’t want to say it’s a little bit better, but at least I’m happy to start tomorrow on the clean side, that’s what I’ll say.”
Ricciardo admitted he was grateful to have been able to move up a position after the crashes of Tsunoda and Sergio Pérez, but said they were both unlucky given the circumstances.
“Look, we’re pushing, it’s Q3, not to make excuses for Yuuki, but there’s no margin in that corner,” he said, “so if you lose a tire there, it’s game over. That’s how it is.”
“Then the game against Czechoslovakia, I think it was probably a bit damper then, but in those conditions you have to give it your all.
“And obviously a small mistake can have big consequences. So now there’s a lot of pressure on everyone in that situation, not just Red Bull.”
“So, we all have those moments, but sometimes when you cross that line, you’re just like, ‘Thank you.'”
Perez was eliminated in Q1 for the second consecutive race, further denting his hopes of breaking out of a slump in which he has scored just 15 points in the past six races.
But Ricciardo insists he is at least determined to keep his place at RB, despite speculation the Mexican driver could be dropped from the team mid-season.
When asked what Red Bull had said to him recently, Ricciardo replied: “They haven’t said anything to me, but I tell myself to go fast if I can.”
“I have two races where I’m going to give it my all. To be honest, I’m not thinking about moving up the rankings at all, I’m just trying to lock something in for next year.
“I went into the weekend deliberately telling myself that these could be the two most important races not only of my season but of my career.
“They haven’t said anything specific to me, but I’ve said enough to myself.”
