Ricciardo optimistic over catching Williams for seventh

Daniel Ricciardo has expressed confidence that AlphaTauri can end the Formula 1 season ahead of Williams in the Constructors' Championship.

Ricciardo scored a strong seventh place result at the Mexico City Grand Prix last weekend, lifting AlphaTauri from last to eighth.

It now sits 12 points behind Williams in the standings, a battle that is worth several million in end-of-year payouts for the teams.

Ricciardo's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was also on course for a finish inside the points before making contact with McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

When asked if AlphaTauri can set its sights on catching Williams, Ricciardo told media including RacingNews365.com: “If this weekend continues, absolutely.

“It's hard to know. Brazil is a very different track but it's similar, It's still at altitude, you still run pretty high downforce.

“Maybe it could help us. Let's see. Vegas, who knows. A lot of long straights, so we got to be a little more slippery than we normally are.

“But I think for Brazil next week we could be okay.”

Mexico far from perfect, asserts Ricciardo

Ricciardo's strong performance in Mexico City was a welcome boost for the Australian, who was forced onto the sidelines with an injury shortly after returning to the grid midway through the campaign.

As he continues to get back up to speed, the 34-year-old asserted that his performance in Mexico was not a surprise to him despite there being areas to improve.

“It's funny, you can never guarantee a good weekend but I'm not surprised we had a good weekend,” he said.

“I was just ready for it. And I think the direction we went with set up, I knew it would allow me to just have a bit more confidence with the car.

“I'm happy there's still some things to get out of it. Even in the race my first sector was a little average.

“I wasn't very consistent through the chicane. So for sure some things I can still improve on but overall, I was very, very happy with the weekend.”