Ricciardo ready to 'attack' at Zandvoort

AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo has said he is looking to 'attack' the remainder of the 2023 F1 season, which resumes this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix after a four-week summer break.

Ricciardo returned to racing two Grands Prix ago in Hungary, replacing the axed Nyck De Vries, and said the summer shutdown had allowed him to regain his fitness after having been on the sidelines during the first half of 2023.

"I'm very excited about racing at Zandvoort, mainly to get the second half of the season going," said Ricciardo.

"I only got to do the two races before the break, so I spent the past few weeks training and building up my fitness, to be all set to attack the second half of the season.

"I've really enjoyed being back, and the two races with the team have been awesome. Now, I'm very hungry and motivated and feel the way I want to feel.

"That's why I’m looking forward to kicking off in Zandvoort, which is a very fast track with an awesome atmosphere."

Tsunoda hoping for first Zandvoort finish

Ricciardo's teammate Yuki Tsunoda scored only his and AlphaTauri's third point of the season at the previous round in Belgium, and having never previously finished a Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Japanese said he was itching to set the record straight.

"We've had two races in Zandvoort in the past, and I even made it to Q3 last year, but I've never finished, so that's something I want to put right this weekend.

"I like the track because it's technical with some unique features, such as the steeply banked corners and the mix of slow and fast turns. It's physically quite demanding.

"I'm not sure how we will perform here because even if [the Belgian Grand Prix] went well, much of that was down to the specific nature of the track and the weather, while Zandvoort is very different – a medium- to high-downforce circuit – but hopefully we can have another good race there.

"Because the track is very narrow, our main focus will be on qualifying well, which is something we have struggled with so far this season. Let's see how it goes."