As Pérez suffers home heartbreak, signs of Ricciardo’s ‘old self’ shine through

Stay informed on all the biggest stories in Formula One. Sign up here to receive the Prime Tire newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday morning.

MEXICO CITY — “He’s going to get a penalty! Moving under braking. So much!”

Daniel Ricciardo laughed as he interrupted George Russell’s media scrum to joke about his defending etiquette.

They’d fought hard in the closing stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix, even going side-by-side on the last lap. Russell fended off the AlphaTauri long enough to cross the line half a second ahead to clinch P6 and leave Ricciardo in seventh.

“Everyone was!” Russell quipped back, adding: “Well done, mate.”

The pair fist-bumped as Ricciardo shuffled past, a smile on his face after scoring the best F1 result of his comeback to date. Seventh place also marked AlphaTauri’s highest finish of the year and lifted the team from last to eighth in the constructors’ championship.

And yet Ricciardo came away with a feeling of disappointment. He qualified fourth on Saturday and anticipated a “lonely” race to fifth before the red flag brought the trailing cars closer to him again.  After the restart, Ricciardo lost out to Russell and was powerless to stop Lando Norris from getting ahead. He reeled Russell back in late on, only to fall just short.

“When you’re that close, you’re like ah, we could’ve (done it)!” Ricciardo said. “We tried. Ultimately, just to be battling a Mercedes at the end, that makes me more happy than just missing out on sixth.”

Russell thought one more lap would have been enough for Ricciardo. “He’s had a really great weekend,” Russell said. “I’m really happy to see him performing well. He deserves it.”

When Ricciardo made his mid-season comeback in Hungary, AlphaTauri had the slowest car on the grid. Although it has progressed through upgrades and is now more competitive, he massively outperformed its ceiling in Mexico to scrap with a Mercedes that could have won in Austin last week. The confidence Ricciardo carried into the weekend wasn’t just talk; he delivered on it in every session.

The timing could not have been more apt. As Sergio Pérez saw his grand homecoming weekend end in heartbreak with a first-lap retirement, one of his biggest rivals for his Red Bull seat made clear he is a real contender.

As Red Bull boss Christian Horner put it: “It looked like the Daniel of old this weekend.”

Pérez goes out fighting 

Pérez knew Mexico would be an essential race to turn around his recent slump in form, especially with the home crowd on his side. He felt Austin’s sprint weekend prevented him from showing his potential after making breakthroughs in his approach with the RB19 car. Fifth in qualifying didn’t seem like much — and was notably behind Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri — yet it gave him the chance to fight on the long run to Turn 1.

Pérez did precisely that. He made one of the best getaways from the line, reacting even quicker than Verstappen one spot ahead to pick up the slipstream Charles Leclerc in front of him. The trio went three-wide into Turn 1; Pérez went for the lead, and paid the price, his car popping into the air and coming down with enough damage to end his race. The moment silenced the grandstands.

“I saw the gap and I went for it,” Pérez said. “I decided to take a risk, I knew it was going to be very risky, and I ended up paying the price.” The Athletic’s Madeline Coleman asked if he’d do it again: “Yes, I would.”

It was a flicker of fight that has been missing at points this year. Without the incident, Horner believed Pérez would have been on the podium, but the team boss felt no frustration or annoyance that he went for the move. Horner said he told Pérez: “You’re going for the lead in your home race — you wouldn’t be a racing driver if you weren’t going for it.”

Still, it’s another setback in a year that started with so much promise. After running alongside Verstappen through the first four races, Pérez has watched his teammate pull far ahead and other drivers approach from behind. Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification in Austin gave Pérez a buffer in the fight for second in the championship, but that gap has now dropped to 20 points with three races to go. A one-two in the drivers’ standings would be a first for Red Bull.

“We’ll give him all the support that we can so that he finishes second,” Horner said, hailing Pérez’s mental strength and calling him a “tough operator.” He reiterated there was “no prerequisite that if he doesn’t finish second, you’re out” of the team for 2024. Pérez has a contract in place, and Horner said it was “our intention” for him to race for Red Bull next year.

Ricciardo shows his hunger

Whenever Red Bull does consider the next step for the seat alongside Verstappen, Ricciardo’s name will be in the mix. The Australian has been open in his intention to return to the team with whom he scored seven of his eight race wins. He chose to return with AlphaTauri with that endgame in sight.

Red Bull praised Ricciardo’s contributions and progress in the simulator during his time away from racing. His performance in the Silverstone Pirelli tire test convinced Red Bull to ditch Nyck de Vries the very same day. But nothing compares to actually racing and competing in F1.

Up to now, Ricciardo lacked a strong statement to back that up. He felt his confidence growing early in the Zandvoort weekend, only for his crash and injury to set things back again. Liam Lawson’s impressive displays as his stand-in led to questions over AlphaTauri’s decision to stick with Ricciardo for next year based on two races. He admitted to feeling some rust in Austin as he struggled to dial in the car setup in just one practice session.

Things changed in Mexico. The steps AlphaTauri made with its car upgrades while Ricciardo was away naturally helped, as did the standard weekend format. But mentally, Ricciardo seemed in a different, stronger headspace.

“After last week, it’s funny,” Ricciardo said. “You can never guarantee a good weekend. I’m not surprised we had a good weekend. I was just ready for it.”

Horner highlighted the mental challenge Ricciardo faced through his rough spell with McLaren, calling it a “fallacy” to think his driving style had core weaknesses.

“Sport is as much in the head as it is anywhere else, and I think he’s back to his old self,” Horner said. “You can see he’s relaxed, he’s confident. He came into the weekend fully motivated after a tricky Austin. Coming back from injury, I thought he did a great job.”

Ricciardo must build on this through the final three races. One strong weekend is not enough for anyone to be sure that Ricciardo is back to the peak of his powers — least of all Ricciardo. “For sure, some things I could improve on,” he said. “But overall, I was very happy with the weekend.”

Pérez’s ambition, while admirable, proved costly. And Ricciardo did everything he could to maximize his result and provide a big lift to AlphaTauri.

“Big picture, we have to be very happy,” Ricciardo said, referring to the team’s season. It could easily extend to the narrative of the fight for the 2025 Red Bull seat — and the best argument yet for his case.

(Lead photo of Daniel Ricciardo: Kym Illman/Getty Images)