Ricciardo was in “drift city” in Montreal rain

Daniel Ricciardo says he was in “drift city” in the wet early stages of the Canadian GP as he slipped down the order.

From his fifth starting position the VCARB driver soon lost out to Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, and then to the wet-shod Kevin Magnussen.

He was then given a five-second penalty for a false start, which he served when he changed to new inters under the safety car.

He slipped further down the order, but the retirements of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, plus a spin for his own team mate Yuki Tsunoda, gave him a helping hand. Passing Esteban Ocon earned him eighth place by the flag.

Despite losing three places on his grid position it was still his best weekend overall of the 2024 F1 season thus far.

“I felt like the race was getting away from us,” he said when asked by this writer about his afternoon.

“The start itself, we were drift city. So lost a couple positions there. Well I say start, also just kind of around turn two, I remember Lewis just literally breezing by me, and I was Tokyo-ing it!

“So I lost a bit there. And then I got told we had a penalty. I was quite confused, because I knew I didn’t jump the lights, but I recall maybe the car was creeping when I was looking at the lights. We had probably a clutch issue, would be my guess.

“And then I think when the rain was coming, we pitted for a new inter, and the others stayed out, and we just lost track position there. I felt like the race was kind of getting away from us.

“But then with the slick at the end, we managed to kind of claw our way back past some cars and get fortunately, a nice little bag of points. So all-in-all, happy.

“These races it’s hard to be perfect. I made mistakes. Obviously we were just trying to survive at times. So happy we got there in the end.”

Ricciardo, who modified his approach to the weekend after a disappointing Monaco, said the result was a boost.

“It’s a good one, because it’s the first weekend I’ve gone well, start-to-finish,” he said. “Obviously Miami, half of it was really good, and the other half not so. So it’s nice just to be competitive from Friday through to Sunday.

“And a race like this, it’s so hard, mentally everything, it is draining. You can’t expect to do a perfect race when it’s like this. But I felt like in all these conditions, we managed to still pull out a result, with a few challenges along the way. So yeah, I’m happy just got to keep it rolling.

“And I think, you know, the that little energy, probably a little bit of a chip on my shoulder I brought into the weekend, I’ve got to make sure that that stays there, and just kind of keep that level of intensity.

“I don’t know if I need to be a bit angry, or just get my testosterone up, but I think it helps me.”

Asked if Montreal might be a turning point in his season he said: “There is certainly some hope that it is, obviously I’ve got to repeat it and back it up to show that, or prove it.

“But yeah, definitely, I’m happy with some things I acknowledged since Monaco, and I really do feel that it’s no coincidence that this weekend went a bit smoother.

“So it’s just making sure that we keep on tapping into it, and make sure that I’m holding myself accountable, not getting too relaxed and happy go lucky, making sure I keep that edge about me.”