“If you’re second, you are only the first in a long line of losers.” The F1 world is amongst the best examples of a cutthroat sport. No matter how good a performer one has been in the past if the results aren’t delivered, it generally means a goodbye. Daniel Ricciardo is well aware of this as his underperformance at McLaren meant that even a talented driver like him had to end the contract a year earlier. 

Even Nyck De Vries, whom the Honey Badger replaced at AlphaTauri was sacked because of not performing up to the expectations. It is hence difficult to imagine a world where a driver would assist another driver, especially in Daniel Ricciardo’s case at the Mexican GP, where he confessed to covertly assisting his former teammate Lando Norris. However, there’s more to this story than just Ricciardo helping Lando Norris. There’s an ultimate goal that the Australian was chasing by helping Norris. A self-benefit for a small sacrifice. But what was it?

Daniel Ricciardo’s failed masterplan behind assisting Lando Norris at the Mexican GP

Daniel Ricciardo had a dream Mexican GP Saturday where he qualified P4 for the race start. After an amazing race start, Ricciardo’s advantage was cut short by the Red Flag that Kevin Magnussen’s crash caused. Nonetheless, Ricciardo remained composed and lost only a spot at the restart until Lando Norris caught up to him in the latter half of the race. Everyone thought that the Honey Badger would fight to the limit and keep Norris behind him after what happened at McLaren in 2021 and 2022.

However, to everyone’s surprise, it seemed as if Ricciardo didn’t fight Norris at all and let him through. After the race, Daniel Ricciardo revealed that it was all a part of his plan where he let Lando Norris through to catch George Russell.

Norris overtaking slowed Russell down and put the Mercedes driver in Ricciardo’s reach. However, the Australian’s plan failed. While he did catch up to Russell, he wasn’t able to overtake the Mercedes and finished in P7.

According to formulapassion.it, Daniel Ricciardo said, “We tried to find our rhythm, where I had a little fight with Norris, but then I let him go. We thought that if he could catch Russell, he would bring him closer to us, and so it was. On the last lap we got closer but we didn’t make it. Anyway, fighting with a Mercedes in the end is exciting.” [Translated Via Google]

Read More: Lando Norris Cruelly Shuts Down Daniel Ricciardo’s Ambitions Only to Show Brotherly Concern Moments Later

While Daniel Ricciardo seemed happy just to be fighting with the Mercedes of George Russell, it wasn’t exactly a flawless race for the Briton who struggled on the last stint. Let’s see what these struggles were all about. 

George Russell’s struggles at the Mexican GP helped Daniel Ricciardo catch up 

Daniel Ricciardo and AlphaTauri definitely had the pace at the Mexican GP, but it still doesn’t give the full picture of how they were able to compete with and catch up to the Mercedes of George Russell. However, the picture became clear after Russell advised how he struggled with the brakes towards the end of the race and then lost temperature in the tires.

According to Sky Sports, George Russell during the post-race interviews said, “The last 20 laps were terrible. The pace was really strong after the red flag. I felt really good in the car, I was right behind Carlos and just couldn’t quite make the overtake, then my brakes overheated and we were concerned we wouldn’t make it at the end and I had to back off. As soon as I did that, I lost all the temperature in my tires and I could never recover it and it was like driving on ice.”

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Ricciardo definitely came alive in Mexico as he did last year too after his unceremonious collision with his current teammate Yuki Tsunoda. The Aussie went on an overtaking charge post to show his old flair & so it seemed the case 12 months later too. Whether this would help him regain his old winning form, time will tell!