After a long time, Daniel Ricciardo outperformed his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Taking on one driver after the other, Daniel Ricciardo was on fire at the Mexican Grand Prix. His former teammate Nico Hulkenberg praised his performance at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The praise however came with a piece of advice.
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Lando Norris is currently sitting in 7th in the drivers’ standings. Ricciardo, who, apart from the Singapore GP until now had failed to impress, is in 12th. The result in Mexico was much needed for McLaren to challenge Alpine for the 4th position in the constructors’ standings.
Nico Hulkenberg’s advice for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 fans got a glimpse of vintage Daniel Ricciardo at the Mexican GP. The Honey Badger on the soft compound showed some blistering overtakes look too easy. For a change, it looked like he was having fun in the car as he cheekily made a finger gun pointing towards his next prey Esteban Ocon before overtaking him. His former teammate from Renault Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed watching him regain his form.
Talking with ServusTV, Nico said, “I’m happy for him that after these tough years he’s had a little sense of achievement again.” “I’m even happier for him because he can now go into these last two races with self-confidence,” he continued. Watching him struggle for the last two years, Hulkenberg had some advice for Daniel. “Knowing him and seeing his body language, I think he needs to get off this Formula 1 rat race.”
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Ricciardo was carrying a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. However, after passing Esteban Ocon on the 62nd lap, the Aussie kept building the gap and eventually at the chequered flag, had a distance of 12 seconds between him and the Frenchman.
Can Nico Hulkenberg make a return in 2023 with Haas?
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Haas team principal had earlier given Mick Schumacher an opportunity to keep his seat with Haas in 2023 if he gained some points. Ever since then, the German has failed to finish in the top 10 in both US and Mexico. Recently, while talking with RTL, Steiner backtracked on his commitment.
He said, “For me, it’s no longer about one race, one lap. For me, it’s about what’s best for the Haas team in the medium to long term.” Steiner continued, “It’s not like they said that if Mick scores points now, he has the place or not.”
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Steiner had earlier admitted to being in touch with Nico Hulkenberg. Now that Mick’s chances of staying have taken another hit, can Hulkenberg make his comeback?